Devils of Aincrad
by Punitor567
Summary: It was a unanimous opinion that Kayaba Akihiko, creator of the revolutionary NerveGear was a certified madman. What other reason would there be to trap ten thousand unknowing people of varying ages in an artificial world where they would live in fear of death every waking moment? What most of the world didn't know, was that Kayaba Akihiko was not exactly human. (Rating may change)
1. Prologue: The Death Game

**So here we are, my second fic on this site.**

**There're a few things I want to get out of the way first. Firstly, I'm gonna have to apologize for starting this one instead of the Clannad fic that led up to the other Clannad story. I still lack too many things to start on that story.**

**Secondly, this story isn't just going to be a simple DxD and SAO crossover with no changes to the characters. Some characters of one verse will have interacted with the other verse before this story takes place – as in, two of Rias' peerage were among those stuck in the death game. I'm giving away spoilers too early… yeah, there's that and some other stuff. Well, enough rambling, on to the story.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own either SAO or High School DxD any more than I own an allowance (yeah, I really don't have one)**

_**Prologue: The Death Game**_

The year was 2022. A great crisis had occurred across the cities of Japan. A crisis that left ten thousand lives hanging in the balance.

This was not supposed to happen. The breakthrough technology that was FullDive was only supposed to be a revolutionary method of VR gaming. It was not supposed to become the object of sheer panic and hysteria wherever there was a LAN connection.

Not knowing what was to come, ten thousand eager players had logged into the VRMMORPG named Sword Art Online, excited about the prospects it had offered. The one thousand beta players who had had experience with the game also had no idea of its creator's plans.

It was a unanimous opinion that Kayaba Akihiko, creator of the revolutionary NerveGear was a certified madman. What other reason would there be to trap ten thousand unknowing people of varying ages in an artificial world where they would live in fear of death every waking moment?

This was what most of the world knew. And what most of the world didn't know, was that Kayaba Akihiko was not exactly human.

Ambulance sirens blared outside an average home somewhere in Japan. A teenage girl, only thirteen years old, cried into her mother's shoulder as a boy was moved from the house into an ambulance. The boy wore a large grey helmet and had slightly long black hair. He was an avid gamer and was one of the lucky people who had gotten the chance to be a beta tester for the game. The game that now held him prisoner.

Kirigaya Suguha did not understand. She did not understand why this had to happen. It was only a few days ago that she had decided to finally to reconcile with her brother, who had grown distant after his decision not to pursue kendo like their grandfather had done. After years of being strangers under the same roof she had finally decided to make an attempt at reconciliation.

And just then fate decided cruelly to take away that one last chance.

_Why?_ Suguha thought. _Why didn't I try to make up with him sooner? Why didn't I try to before it was to late?_

Her last chance had gone. Kirigaya Kazuto was sentenced to a gradual death in a different world. And she never even had the chance to say goodbye.

"Suguha…" her mother said. "Don't worry. You heard what that lunatic said. If they can beat the game, they'll all come back."

Kayaba Akihiko had indeed broadcasted the moment of the revelation throughout Japan. Seconds after which all the hospitals deployed every ambulance they owned to hurriedly bring all the ten thousand gamers to physical safety in the two hours of safe time he had allotted. All the roads were hurriedly cleared of any other vehicles as the ambulances broke the speed limits in a race against time.

Suguha did not care about any of that. All she could think of at the moment was her own stupidity and slowness in making a decision.

Kirigaya Midori was trying her best to keep up a brave face for her daughter's sake. Kazuto was not her son by birth, but she had raised him as such. And so she knew him for who he was.

Which was why she could stop herself from tearing up.

Suguha looked up when her mother placed a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Midori's determined expression through her tears.

"He'll make it out. Just you wait, Sugu, he'll be the first one out of there."

Midori spoke with such conviction that Suguha was tempted to believe her right away. But the doubts would not disappear as easily as that. "How can you be so sure of that?" she asked, her eyes betraying her fears. "How can you be so sure that this game won't kill him off? The news reports said there's already over 200 of them gone. He could easily be the next!"

"I can be sure because I know Kazuto. And so, you shouldn't worry either."

Suguha was confused. What was she talking about?

"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Midori said, a wry smile beginning to form on her lips. "Kazuto was always an avid gamer, and was always obsessed with making himself the best player possible. Do you think it's possible for someone with that mindset to lose to something like this?"

"But Okaa-san!" Suguha cried out, "this isn't just a game!"

"That might be true, but it still functions as such. And so, it is not a place where Kazuto can lose in. No, he'll definitely be one of the people who will end this game with their own hands. You can count on it."

Suguha was not completely reassured. It was only human nature to think of everything that could go wrong. This wasn't any ordinary game. This was not a game controlled by a keyboard or a console. This was one where you used your own hands to survive.

Suguha decided she needed some time alone. "I'm gonna go for … for a walk," she told her mother, beginning to walk off. Her mother gave an understanding look, and turned away.

Suguha took small hesitating steps to the end of the road and turned a corner. Once out of sight, she looked forward at the two paths that branched off, one towards the park and the other continuing along the main road.

Things could have gone very differently. Suguha could have chosen to walk along the main road and return some time later without any major event happening. But she took the different choice. She didn't know why, but she ran at full speed down the path to the park.

She didn't know either that making that particular choice would drastically change her life.

Another ambulance departed from a much larger residence.

Here, however, there were dozens of cameramen and journalists, eager as ever to get a story regardless of the situation.

This was because the large house that the ambulance departed from with a fifteen-year-old girl was the house of the CEO of RETCO, the company that built the NerveGear according to Kayaba Akihiko's instructions. This was the home of Yuuki Shouzou, whose daughter had just succumbed to the same fate as nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine others.

His wife, Yuuki Kyouko was dealing with the persistent press. The journalists were eager to put words in her mouth, such as "was she willing to trap even her own daughter in the game in accordance to Kayaba Akihiko's wishes?" or "were they helping hide the perpetrator of this national crisis?" or the like.

Kyouko for her part, was getting increasingly annoyed. The paparazzi had always only amused her, but in a situation like this, they were grinding her nerves. After a particularly irritating question – or rather, a request for a 'confirmation', she stomped back into her house and slammed the door shut.

Her husband and her son were both sitting on the sofa staring at the blank TV screen, both of them dazed and unbelieving. Kyouko did not know whether to be relieved that it wasn't her son, who had bought the wretched device, was the one who was trapped, or worried that it was rather her studious daughter who knew next to nothing about such things.

Kyouko did not understand what led her daughter to even try using the thing. Asuna used to share her mother's sentiment that gaming was an unnecessary pastime that did nothing more than harm a person's academic progress. _Even though she really did not have any need of it._

"What do I do…?" Shouzou asked blankly. "What can I do to change this?"

He was not speaking to anyone in particular. His son nodded vaguely, still likely wondering what would have happened had he put on that helmet.

Kyouko answered for them. "For now, we wait. I'll go looking for answers tomorrow. For now, let's hope that Asuna is capable enough to survive this monstrosity of a world."

Kyouko always had a cool head, and she prided herself on that. But now she wished that she was able to, like others, let out all her frustration at something, anything. And as such, she would begin searching for a target to vent her anger at as soon as she could.

She and Asuna may have had their occasional differences, but they were still mother and daughter. And now that the daughter was in danger, it was her duty as a mother to find and destroy the cause of the harm.

Another ambulance left the small, humble residence of the Hyoudou family. Their only son had been captured by a madman's machinations and was left to fend for himself.

The Hyoudous stood at their door, watching the ambulance disappear. They were powerless to do anything about the plight their son had fallen in. The husband comforted the sobbing wife as they both began to slowly walk back inside.

They had no choice but to wait and pray. To pray that their son would make it out alive.

**[This is indeed worrying,] **a being residing in someone's left arm spoke. No one could hear it, not even its possessor.

**[Even if I had managed to establish contact before this, I don't think I would be able to do so in this current state. He's surely awake, but somehow out of my reach]**

The being fidgeted worriedly. Had it had a physical body, it would be flapping its giant red wings in discomfort.

**[Am I fated to disappear before I even face the White One this time around?]**

The Welsh Dragon, Ddraig, did not know how to escape this predicament. And as such, he could only hope that his current host would be wise enough to either fight for his life, or preserve himself until somebody else destroyed the prison. Thinking this far, he laughed.

**[What a cowardly way to think. If Albion heard me, I'd never hear the end of it.]**

"What do you mean it's not going to work?!"

In a secluded room in a private hospital, a red-haired girl shouted in disbelief. How could such a thing happen?

"We've tried many things, Rias," Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the Yondai-Maou and Rias Gremory's older brother explained to her. "However… no, I suppose it would be better to show you."

He turned to the hospital bed where a blond-haired boy was connected to a life-support system. Creating a small red-black sphere in his hand, he moved it near the helmet.

Instantly, a pale-blue hexagonal barrier appeared around the grey device. Words appeared on the shield:

_Warning: Any attempt to disable or destroy the NerveGear through magical means will result in activation of the microwave radiation and kill the user of the NerveGear. Please move away from the NerveGear within ten seconds._

Rias Gremory, heiress to the Gremory house, paled at the sight. As far as she knew, it was only a human-made video game where you could move around with your own hands and legs. A virtual world where her Knight Kiba Yuuto had said he would be able to gain some experience with using his sword. She didn't understand why he wanted to use a game to gain experience when he already had an exceptionally skilled master. All Yuuto had said was, "I want to try going all-out against people without the risk of killing anyone. A game like this would be suitable."

And yet here he was, he himself under threat of death from the device he wanted to use. And she was not able to do anything about it.

Rias felt like she had failed her Servant. She felt like a failure of a King.

"Rias," her brother said, looking at her worriedly. "Don't blame yourself. None of us could have predicted this. In fact, there are actually many, _many _devils also trapped in this game. Yuuto-kun is not the only one."

"But … how? How is something made by humans for entertainment able to defend against demonic powers and magic?" Rias asked.

Sirzechs did not answer. He remembered Ajuka apologizing for letting _him _out in the human world. He remembered how adept _he _was at both human and devil technology, and had learned to mix the two.

He decided to tell Rias right out.

"Because the creator of Sword Art Online, Kayaba Akihiko, is not human."

**Phew, that was one long introduction.**

**So yeah, you can already see the changes I made in the story. I can't say much except the surprises still aren't over.**

**The reason I put Issei and Kiba into SAO … well, you're gonna have to read and find out. Once I put up the next chapters that is. Now I see why sometimes it takes so long to update a story.**

**Anyways, Punitor567 out. R&R please. El Psy Congroo**


	2. Chapter One: The Shooting Star

**So, here's chapter two. Now then, there are a few things I wanna clear up.**

**SAO in this story is mostly going to serve as a backstory to some of the character, namely, the ones mentioned in the prologue. The main story is gonna be after the end of Aincrad, and going to be two separate but joined plotlines: one being the DxD storyline, the other being a modified SAO storyline.**

**Also, to the anonymous Guest who gave a review, Issei will still be a perv. Not overly so like in canon, but still a very vocal perv. Although, the experience in SAO will give him a bit more basic fighting experience, and something else too (spoilers). He remains a perv because that defining trait of his happened way back when he was a kid (source: Light Novels).**

**Anyway, I don't plan to spend much time on the Aincrad arc, so it's going to be glimpses here and there of how the extra characters changed the story.**

**That's that done with. On to the story.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: SAO and DxD do not belong to me any more than the French fries of an alternate universe.**

"Well, let's part here. If anything comes up send me a message. … well, see you later, Klein."

Klein called me as I turned my eyes downwards and turned to leave.

"Kirito!"

"…"

I sent him a questioning glance but he didn't say anything, his cheek only shook a little.

I waved once and turned northwest – the direction of the village that I'd use as my next base.

When I had taken about five steps a voice called out from behind me again.

"Hey, Kirito! You look pretty good in real life! You're quite my style!"

I smiled bitterly and shouted over my shoulder.

"Your look suits you ten times better too!"

Then I turned my back on the first friend that I had made in this world and ran straight forward ceaselessly.

After I had run through the winding alleyways for a few minutes, I looked back again. Of course, there was nobody there.

I ignored the odd feeling of my chest being constricted and ran.

I ran desperately to the northwest gate of the Starting City and then past the large plains and the deep forest, then a small village located past all that – then past that to an endless, lonely game of survival.

_**Chapter One: The Shooting Star**_

A few days had passed since that first day full of despair. The day on which everywhere on the First Floor there was a thick atmosphere of panic.

On the first day alone, many players had tried every method they could think of to escape the game. Too many players. Dozens of them thought that if they suicide here they would go back to reality. The last thing they probably saw was the endless expanse of sky they were falling through, until they hit the limits of the VR world. Many more suicides followed afterwards, but this time done in despair, done because they had given up all hope and would rather have it end there and then.

I don't blame them. Most of them were just casual players here to have a fun time. And suddenly the swords they held, the monsters out in the fields and the green bar of HP at the corner of their visions became real. It wasn't surprising that many people couldn't deal with it.

Among the others who remained, most of them holed themselves up in the cheapest inns of the Starting City. Spending 1 Col or so daily on a piece of bread, they decided to wait out the last of their days.

A few players, like me, wandered the dungeons of the first floor, always careful, stocking up EXP so that we could begin to start clearing the game. Truthfully, none of us had any hope of doing so. We just needed something to do to give us the merest pretense of hope.

While most others went around the dungeons in full teams, never going into the more dangerous areas out of fear, I travelled alone. Even during the beta test, I had always gone about the game alone. And by travelling alone, I discovered more than the team players ever did.

On that life-changing first day, I had first gone in search of a new sword. The best one-handed longsword that you could get on the first floor was the Anneal Blade, and it was available through a quest at a nearby village. As a beta tester, I was privy to this information.

However, I was not the only one. I met another beta tester who had decided to partake in the same quest. His handle was Coper. At first he seemed like he had wanted to work together.

But soon I had found out what this kind of situation did to a person. It was in human instinct to put one's survival over others. Coper had decided he would be the one who would survive no matter what the game threw at him. And as a result, he decided to do everything in his power to achieve that – including MPKing a party member so he could be the one to get the better sword.

Was this what Kayaba wanted? To create a situation where the players themselves became their own enemies?

Once again I reasserted my opinion that Kayaba Akihiko, the man I used to look up to, was a psychotic murderer.

A month into the game, I saw a shooting star.

The dark dungeon at that moment had only three individuals inside. Myself, who was watching from a distance, a Ruin Kobold Trooper monster, and a lone fencer.

The player wore a red tunic, leather pants and a hooded cape. I could not see his face. A fencer's equipment, and the sword was the standard rapier.

All this I registered at a glance. What I was focusing on, was the shooting stars that the fencer's sword was making.

It was the basic rapier skill Linear. I had seen it countless times during the beta test.

What I had never seen, was the blade itself disappearing as the skill activated.

The fencer danced around the Kobold, barely dodging its attacks. However, each of his lightning-fast strikes all pierced it accurately. The result was that the Kobold's HP dropped rapidly while the fencer's was still in the green. Soon, the monster had shattered into polygons, and the fencer leaned back onto the corridor wall and slid down, clearly exhausted.

Normally, I would've taken the selfish path and just walked past. But for some reason I felt like I should walk towards this lone fencer.

"… That was an extreme overkill."

The fencer moved very slightly. From beneath the hood, all I saw were dark brown eyes.

The next minute I explained what overkill was to who was now evident as someone who had never played video games before.

"… Is it a problem?" the fencer said.

I realized then that the fencer was female.

"It's not exactly a problem, but it's not efficient…" I started. "Using Sword Skills to often like that can make you too tired to go back."

"That won't be a problem," she replied, weakly but forcefully. "I don't plan on going back."

I was surprised, to say the least.

"Not going back? Hold on, potions, equipment maintenance, you'll need to do all that–"

"I don't need potions if I don't take any damage. And I have five of the same sword with me so there's no problem."

"But, what about sleep?" I asked, astonished.

"A nearby safe area suffices for rest."

Safe areas were in no means a comfortable place to sleep. They were found inside dungeons, a place where monsters could not set foot. It was an area of cold stone where, although there were no monsters, you could constantly hear animal noises. It didn't matter how brave you were, you could not have a decent sleep in there.

This person, however, had done so for I didn't know how many hours. I tentatively asked the question.

The answer was something I never expected.

"One week … no, more than that. Is that all? I have to get going soon, the monsters will return soon."

A leather-gloved hand pushed against the wall and she stood up, legs shaking. I also noticed how tattered the cape was. It should have disappeared long ago, unless she wasn't kidding about 'not taking any damage.'

"If you keep this up, you are going to die."

The rapier user stopped, and turned back to me. Red-lined hazel eyes shot glares at me.

"… It won't be long before everyone's dead. It has only been a month, and over two thousand players are gone. Getting out of here is impossible. All you can decide is where, when and how … you die …"

The exhaustion seemed to finally get to her, as she fell down onto the hard ground.

Yuuki Asuna had completely given up.

She wondered for a second how it was possible to faint in a virtual reality, but dismissed it, thinking "It didn't matter."

It no longer mattered whatever happened to her here. Because no matter what she did, she and all the others were just going to die anyway.

Asuna had never had any patience for video games of any sort. It was her brother Koichirou who had bought the NerveGear and was excited about being there on the opening day of Sword Art Online.

However, he had been requested to go _abroad _on the first day. Asuna did not know what made her want to go to her brother's room and place the damned helmet on her head.

Perhaps it was curiosity. Perhaps it was just out of sheer boredom. Perhaps it was as a stress relief from all those _studies _she had been taking, stress she did not even know she had.

Just that one small decision, had completely altered her future … no, it had ended her future.

The first two weeks after the devastating announcement, Asuna had locked herself up in an inn. She tried to contact the real world, but to no avail. She waited for someone, anyone on the other side to set her free while she dealt with nightmares. The fact that no one was able to do so brought questions to her mind, but she discarded them because there was no point any longer in thinking about them.

And in the end she had decided. She, like all the others, was going to die. What she did have control over was how she was going to die.

And so she made her choice.

Run. Charge forward. Then disappear, like a meteor burning up upon entering the atmosphere.

She left the inn, and went into the artificial wilderness of Aincrad's first floor. And there she had remained: no food, no proper rest, just endless fighting. Until now.

Opening her eyes and looking around, she noticed that she was out of the dungeon. It should have been impossible. The weight limit imposed upon every player should have made it impossible for the only person nearby to have carried her out of the dungeon. And yet here she was.

She looked around, and found the culprit. Slightly long, messy black hair. Average equipment, but a sword that looked above the average standard. He was leaning against a nearby tree, deep black eyes looking at her.

She felt angry. Carrying her out of the dungeon was meaningless. She also took it as a blow to her pride. Who was he to interfere with her choices?

Sitting up with some effort, she stared daggers at the boy. "That was unnecessary," she spat out.

"You weren't the one I saved. I did so for your map data."

"You should've just left me there in that case."

He didn't answer that as Asuna pulled up a window and sent him the map data she had accumulated over the long days in the dungeon. She then stood up and turned to leave.

"Do you really want to just die out here in the middle of nowhere?"

That question stopped her. It also made her angrier.

"We're already in the middle of nowhere!" she said, turning back to him. "And what other choice do we have? Each and every one of us is going to disappear here at one point, and at the same time those helmets will fry our brains! I think I'm allowed to decide how I want to go out!" she snapped.

"You say that, but some people have already decided to start clearing the game."

"What's the point?" She honestly didn't see any. "What point is there in doing that when the task is impossible?"

"The point is in knowing that even if you fail, you die trying," he said sharply, eyes now staring back with conviction.

This made her fall silent. Seeing that, the boy continued.

"Until now, I thought the same way. I had also planned to give up, and just keep wandering the dungeons around here hoping that some miracle would break us free. However," he said, getting to his feet. "Watching you in that dungeon made me realize something. If we can only choose how we're going to die, then I only have one option. If I'm going to die, it's going to be in attempting to clear this game."

"Pointless," Asuna snarled. "Anything we do is pointless. What would make you want to even try?"

The black-haired boy paused for a second. Then he asked her, "Do you have any family waiting for you? Parents, siblings, relatives, even friends?"

For the first time in a long time, Asuna thought about it. She had a doting father who was surely wallowing in grief at the moment. She had a strict mother who she occasionally did not get along with. She had a brother who was no doubt relieved and at the same time deeply worried for her. And she did have one real friend back there as well. But she had long since given up any hope of going back there.

"I have a family to get back to," the boy said. "I have parents to apologize to, and a cousin to reconcile with. And so, even if it's hopeless, even if there's nothing we can do, I'm still going to try. Not for anyone else's sake, but for my own."

He walked past her, and said, "There will be a meeting of all the players who wish to challenge this floor's boss at 4pm today. If you want to get out of here and back to the real world, even in the slightest, then I suggest you come as well."

With that, he left Asuna to her thoughts.

She had given up. She had given up truly and completely.

And as such, she hated herself for unwillingly clinging on to the false hope the boy had given her.

After a long while, Yuuki Asuna made her second big decision in Aincrad. She would fight. Not aimlessly in the dungeons, but on the frontlines, working her way out. It was hopeless, and it was also pointless. Yet she would fight, if only for the sake of her pride.

Deciding so, Asuna turned to walk back towards the town. If she was going to follow the blind hope she had been given, then it would be while completely prepared.

**Phew, that's another chapter.**

**Now, those of you nitpicky about details have probably noticed it straight away.**

**While this chapter was, for all purposes, the first part of Aria in the Starless Night, there were a few changes.**

**One, Asuna was in the dungeons for more than a week, and not three-four days. Two, she had not eaten anything in those days either. Yes, of course she would feel the hunger, but this Asuna decided to just forget it and fight until her mind was completely drained.**

**There were also two words that were for some reason in italics.**

**All of that has one reason. A reason which I'll leave to you to guess. This is a crossover fic after all.**

**Also, Kirito and Asuna are definitely very, **_**very **_**OOC. Kirito because I wanted to try out the idea, Asuna because of the same thing, but also relevant to the reason for the previous points.**

**With that said, I don't plan on outlining every moment of AitSN in this fic. The next chapter will skip straight to the end of the first floor battle. It's probably going to be a shorter chapter than usual.**

**And in the chapter after that, you'll see the first of the people who should not have been in SAO. So, on that bombshell, Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	3. Chapter Two: The Beater

**So, I'm back once again with another chapter.**

**Firstly, to the Guest who once again reviewed (or is it someone else, I dunno) you're half right. It isn't **_**exactly **_**related to Kuou Academy, more like the **_**other **_**world besides the human one. I have a tendency to give away too many spoilers.**

**Well, you know what they say: All roads lead to Kuou Academy.**

… **What do you mean that's not correct?**

**Well, that sounds like everything … Oh wait, there's something else.**

**I would like to apologize since this chapter and the last have 90% in common with the canon of Aria in the Starless Night. DxD elements have not made an appearance since the latter half of the prologue. Hopefully, I can change that by next chapter.**

**Anyways, that ends my rambling. On to the story.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own DxD or SAO any more than Brazil own a semifinal victory.**

**Oh and someone please teach me how to do line breaks!**

_**Chapter Two: The Beater**_

"Why?! Why did you let Diabel-san die?!"

Asuna looked at the scimitar user from one of the raid groups organized to defeat the boss – the same raid group as the one Diabel was in. Diabel being the 'Knight' who had organized this raid and had motivated the 44 players who had shown up to take down the boss.

Thanks to that Diabel person, everything had gone smoothly, putting aside a spiky-haired player's hatred towards beta testers. It was thanks to him that they had come all this way to fight the boss of the first floor.

And yet Diabel was the only one who died in the battle.

To put a long story short, she had gone with the boy to the meeting the knight had organized. She listened to what he had to say. While she had put up a neutral expression outside, she was frowning inside.

_How? _She had thought, confused at the actions of the mane dubbed Diabel. _How is it they can still keep their spirits so high? An entire fifth of Aincrad's prisoners are already gone. How can they still have the will to keep trying?_

Asuna could never understand a sentiment like that. If something was guaranteed to be impossible then she would never bother to attempt it. Some would think that she didn't have the courage to do so, but it was simply because she didn't want to waste her time on impossibilities.

That was when the spiky-headed player, Kibaou (_What a pretentious name, _Asuna had thought.*) came up to Diabel and requested permission to speak. He then proceeded to give a speech on how all the deaths that had occurred so far was the fault of the beta testers – the players who had gotten a chance to test the game before its release. He spoke about how it was because those beta testers had disappeared on that first day that 2000 players had died.

Asuna immediately felt a deep dislike for the man. She knew his type. Arrogant, loud, but completely useless. When faced with a problem he would not go hunting for a solution: instead, he would look for someone or something to push all the blame on. It was like ignoring your burning house and yelling at the neighbors, accusing each and every one of them of committing arson.

That was exactly what Kibaou had tried to do. After he had said all the hateful words he could think of, Asuna had glanced to the right – only to see a furious expression on the face of her new acquaintance. It was by that alone that she realized just what the boy was, and from his furious expression, she realized that there were definitely some beta testers among the two thousand who had died.

Things would have progressed badly had it not been for a very large foreigner who spoke up and silenced Kibaou. He told him that information from the beta test was available, and showed him the guide to prove it. Asuna had gotten herself one as well, for free. As did most other players congregated there.

Thanks to both Diabel and the foreigner, Agil's efforts, the raid party was back to functioning smoothly. They were given a few hours before the raid would begin. Asuna would have spent it either slaughtering more monsters around the dungeons or eating the bland, cheap bread that was available at inns. Had her companion not mentioned the word 'bath'.

Asuna practically forced him at blade-point to take her to the room he had rented and, after a clear warning to him about not peeking, and used the bath. In one sentence: she sent him running after he "somehow" accidentally got a glimpse.

They had met up again at the same plaza, and this time the atmosphere was serious and determined. Once again, Asuna wondered at their tenacity. And once again, she simply followed.

The battle had gone well, until the boss did something unexpected, by everyone except her partner. He yelled at them to get back, but it was too late. About half a dozen players had their HP sent below half. Diabel, while still airborne from the sudden different skill, was hit by a second attack from Illfang the Kobold Lord and was the first and only person to die in the raid.

Everyone had lost their morale not long afterwards, but her partner had taken charge, and with her assistance and some help from the large axe-wielder Agil had rallied the remaining forces against the boss. At one point the black-haired longsword-wielder had called her name, which confused her, as Asuna did not recall ever telling it to him. Flicking aside that momentary thought, she had focused once again on the task at hand. And soon it was all over.

For a few moments everyone was elated and cheering. They had struck their first decisive blow against the death game. They had made their first solid step to accomplishing the impossible. But, that was when the scimitar-wielder had cried out.

Which brought them back to the present. The scimitar user whose name Asuna still did not know, was glaring at her partner with burning hatred. The black-haired boy looked as though he could not believe what he had just heard.

"Let him die …?" he asked blankly.

"That's right! You knew, didn't you?! You knew that skill the boss used! If you had told us about it earlier, Diabel-san wouldn't have died!"

This accusation caused a ripple among the previously cheering members of the party. "He's right, you know…" "How did he know that? It wasn't in the guide…" "Now that you mention it…"

Asuna had turned to look at Kibaou, expecting him to add fuel to the flames. He did not, however say anything. It was somebody else who came up to the boy and jabbed a finger at his face.

"You! You're a beta tester aren't you?!"

Asuna grimaced inwardly, not particularly satisfied that her suspicions were correct. Mostly because this was exactly the wrong situation for them to find out. Looking around, she saw that the other players did not look surprised. They had most likely suspected it ever since he had predicted the katana skill the boss had used instead of the talwar.

"You are, aren't you?! You knew everything, the boss's attack patterns, the good hunting spots, everything! And yet you hid them all to yourself!"

"Hold on," someone else said calmly. "If he was a beta tester, wouldn't his information be the same as on the guide?"

"The guide was a lie," the scimitar user spat out. "No doubt that Rat Argo is also a beta tester. Do you really think she'd give away the right information for free?"

Asuna noticed the black-haired boy looking around. She could see the gears turning as he thought of how to best help the situation. Then, a look of conviction came into his eyes.

Some instinct of hers made her realize that whatever he was about to do was a bad idea. She, and Agil at the same time, moved forward to say something before he could.

"Hey, listen," she began, but the boy held up a hand to silence her. His face then changed, as if he had put on a mask. With that expression dripping with condescension, he turned to the rest of the group.

"Beta tester? Don't confuse me with those noobs."

Just the one sentence chilled the air in the room.

He looked around, wearing an expression of superiority, and began again. "Listen up. SAO's Closed Beta Test had ridiculously low chances of someone winning the lottery to become a tester. Of the thousand that were selected for the test, how many of them do you think had any actual experience with MMORPGs? Most of them were just pathetic newbies who let their luck get the better of them."

His act was so good that, had Asuna not known him beforehand, she would've believed him. Now all she felt was worry for him. _Worry? _She realized. _When was the last time I felt worried for someone I barely knew?_

While the boy tried to put up a good act, she could see in his eyes how much this was hurting him. He kept speaking,

"I'm nothing like those idiots. I was the one who went the furthest during the beta test, who found out more things about this game than any one of them. That skill the boss used? A katana skill from a higher floor. Only I knew that because only I had made it that far. That Argo doesn't even know a fraction of the stuff I do."

It was then that she realized just what he was trying to do. All the hatred the players had for beta testers, he was shifting all of that loathing onto himself.

Tirades broke out among the group. They yelled at him, calling him "beta tester" and "cheater." At one point, the two terms merged and became "Beater."

He laughed at hearing that. "Beater. I like that. Well, at least now you know. Don't make the mistake of grouping me with those noob testers."

And with that, he equipped the long coat he had obtained from landing the last hit on the boss, and flourishing it, he turned towards the forty-odd steps that led towards the next floor. "Don't follow me unless you're prepared to die." In a few seconds, he had crossed the door and was gone.

Silence reigned over the empty boss room. Asuna made up her mind to follow the hard-headed moron and teach him a lesson, but a voice stopped her.  
"Hey," Kibaou said. "If you're gonna follow him, then give him a message from me."

I walked onto the streets of Urbus, the second floor of the floating castle, Aincrad.

Normally, this would've been a cause for celebration. Not this time, however, since I had just directed the hatred of a number of players onto myself. And as the word spread, I would have more people here out for my blood.

"Guess I really can be an idiot sometimes," I said to no one in particular.

I got a shove in the back as a response, which knocked me off balance. Falling onto one knee, I heard a familiar voice behind me say, "You've been an idiot every second I've known you the past day."

I looked back. Sure enough, it was Asuna standing there, glaring at me.

"Didn't I tell you not to follow me?" I asked.

"Must've slipped my attention," she said indifferently. "You should count yourself lucky this game prevents me from hitting you as hard as I want to."

"Actually, here in the town area, you can without me losing any HP-"

That was definitely a dumb move on my part as a fist flew at my face and knocked me to the ground.

"Well, now that that's done," she continued, pretending as though nothing happened, "I've got a couple of messages for you."

That surprised me. I thought I had scared them enough so that they wouldn't approach me, at least not right away.

"Really… what are they?"

"Agil-san said, 'Let's go for the second floor's boss together.' And as for Kibaou…"

She paused, and attempted to imitate a Kansai accent. " 'You've helped me today, but I don't acknowledge you. I am going to clear this game my way.'"

It was so awkward I couldn't help breaking out into a small grin. Asuna seemed to be irritated by my expression and huffed before turning to the side.

"There's one more thing," she said, turning only her eyes at me. "In the middle of the battle, you called out my name."

"Your name? Oh, yeah, sorry for not adding the honorific. Or was it the way I pronounced it?"

She looked confused for a second. "No you idiot, I don't remember ever telling you my name. How did you find out?"

This time I was confused for a split second. And then I remembered.

"Right. This is your first time teaming up with someone isn't it?"

"What do you think?"

"Yeah, I get it," I said. Seriously, did she have to bite back at everything I said? I then said while pointing to the left of her vision, "Where you normally see your HP, there should be a second smaller HP bar. There's something written under it, right?"

"Um…" Asuna muttered, turning her head to where I pointed. I stopped her with my fingertips, and said, "No, don't turn your head. Just use your eyes to look at the corner of your vision."

She turned her brown eyes towards the left, and then uttered three syllables.  
"Ki…ri…to. Kirito? Is that your name?"

"Yup."

Suddenly, I felt her shaking. I recalled just in time that my finger was still on her cheek and hurriedly withdrew it. As I prepared myself to be whacked once again, I realized she was laughing. Too bad I couldn't see the face of the normally cold fencer as this happened, I thought.

She stopped as abruptly as she had begun. "You're unbelievable, you know that?" she suddenly said. I was baffled to say the least.

"Eh? Why?"

"Like you said, I really had given up on getting out of this nightmare. I was completely prepared to die. However," she said, finally turning to look at me.

"Despite all my protests you dragged me to the first floor raid meeting and convinced me to try and take a step towards leaving this place. You even reminded me of how much I was missing in the real world with the cream bread** and the bath."

"You threatened to knife me if I didn't let you use the bath."

She laughed again. "There is that," she said, amusement evident in her eyes, "but that too I have to thank you for. And finally, thanks to you, I think I know what I want to do here."

"Really?" I asked. She then turned to me, this time looking completely determined.

"You proved to me that while it's a Herculean task, getting out of this game is not impossible. And so, I have to thank you for that."

"Herculean…?" I said, not knowing the word.

Asuna grinned at my confusion. "It means something that seems impossible, but is actually possible with a massive amount of effort."

"… I knew that," I retorted, trying to act cool.

For the third time, she laughed. And this time it was me who started speaking afterwards.

"Asuna… you're going to become a strong player. Not just in your swordsmanship, but better tools and skills than that. So, if you ever get offered to join a guild, don't decline. There can only be so many solo players after all."

"Who are you to try and tell me what to do?" she said with mock superiority. "And I'll throw those words right back at you." She then turned to leave, but paused after a moment's hesitation. "Oh, and the next time we meet, you're gonna tell me just how you carried me out of that labyrinth, got it?"

"Understood, ma'am," I responded. Smiling, she walked away. "See you around, Kirito-kun."

After she had gone, I realized that I couldn't just stand around here anymore. I'd have to go into hiding soon and begin my long, covert life.

I'm making it sound like some sort of undercover spy movie. Yeah, like its anything at all like that.

There was a sudden sound and an icon appeared at the corner of my vision. I'd gotten a new message. I didn't have anyone in my friend list except for Klein … and Argo.

Opening the message, I saw that it was indeed from Argo

"_Seems like I caused you a big hassle, Kii-bou. In return, I'll give you any one piece of information for free."_

Seeing that message, I grinned. I decided to ask her something that normally would have cost me about 100,000Col. I quickly typed out my reply:

"_Tell me the reason for your whiskers personally***."_

**Chapter Two complete, and it's another SAO-centric one. I'm making myself impatient with how long it'll take to actually reach Kuou Academy. Oh right, firstly,**

***Kibaou means Fang King**

****anyone who's either read the LNs or watched the anime knows the cream bread scene. I didn't bother writing out that bit**

*****to those of you who've watched only the anime, go back to the episode where Kirito fights Nicholas the Apostate to get that possible revival item. That face-painted girl who gives him the info? Yeah that's Argo. And yeah, she's a beta tester. Man, they should've kept her for more scenes in the anime.**

**So then, next chapter, something different will take place. PS: what should I make a certain Red Dragon's in-game handle? Send me a message with possibilities.**

**Next time, Chapter Three: The Dragon's Fear.**

**Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**

**(And how'd you like the new dynamic between Kirito and Asuna?)**


	4. Chapter Three: The Dragon's Fear

**So, finally, the long awaited Issei chapter. Now then, I believe I have some questions to answer.**

**reality deviant: no, this is pre-Devil Issei. And I am sorry to say, this may be his only appearance in the Aincrad arc. Coz SAO kinda serves as a small backstory to him here. The person who will be an important character throughout the Aincrad arc will be the **_**other **_**person who shouldn't be here.**

**Guest: Kirito and Asuna get together around the same time actually, since it was that thing on the 50****th**** floor that got her to fall for him. Or at least started it, in my opinion. Right now, she still sees him as just some interesting guy.**

**IzanagiMikoto: HK. I like that.**

**Ryo no Kitsune: Oppaimaster or Haremmaou is not possible, the first because nobody in their right minds, no not even Issei, would go around calling themselves Oppaimaster given their reason for entering the game. Everyone would stay a hundred miles away. As for Haremmaou, well, I don't want to play up his future connections to the Devils yet.**

**And once again, I'm going to slightly rush past the Aincrad arc. And I just noticed I saved chapter two as chapter three. Sorry. Fixed that.**

**And now for an apology. This chapter is HUUUGE. I should've really split it, but, yeah.**

**So anyway, here we are with the next chapter. On with the yarn.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I have no more claim of ownership to SAO and DxD any more than my neighbor has to Lamborghini… (he doesn't does he?)**

**Chapter Three: The Dragon's Fear**

"I don't care how many times you ask me, my answer will still be the same-nya!"

Two hours after the defeat of Illfang the Kobold Lord. The teleport gate to the second floor had opened up, and numerous players had come rushing in, cheering and whooping and jumping into the air. Among them were a few people who were among the raid party and were looking for me.

They would not find me. I had long left the Inner Area of Urbus.

Although I was hanging around the outskirts watching the players. I was looking for someone who owed me a small favor.

Hah. Small favor. I had just put myself on the wanted list of several dozen players. She'd better return the favor.

Argo had dashed out of the gate at top speed, and hadn't stopped running. She headed straight outside the area. I found out why a few seconds later, as two more people dashed out of the gate and followed her at top speed.

The fact that they could follow Argo, who had focused most of her stat points on AGI, was surprising in itself. I was mostly sure Argo would be able to outrun them, until I recognized the ninja-type gear her pursuers had. Argo was being pursued by two beta testers. And these guys weren't the nice ones.

So, I opened my menu, chose the Pursuit skill, selected Argo's name and hastily followed the disappearing footsteps that became visible. Contradictory? My Pursuit skill wasn't that high.

I followed them up to a valley where they finally stopped. And that's when I heard Argo say that in her nasal voice, though more intimidating than usual. One of the two ninjas replied in the voice of someone who knew, _"definitely knew"_, that they had figured the other person out.

"You don't plan on keeping it to yourself, and neither do you want to share it to just anyone! That means you want to increase the price-gozaru!"

It wasn't a question. The guy was completely sure of his opinion. And _'-gozaru'_, really?

These two ninja fanatics were beta testers who, like Argo, had focused most stat points on AGI. Two annoying idiots from the beta test. During every battle we'd engage in, they'd move to the front, and confuse the monsters with their evasive speed. And when things got bad for them, they'd make a quick retreat and leave the monsters to attack any nearby party of players instead. Two words can summarize them: evil shinobi.

Watching from my viewpoint on a five-meter high rock above their eyesight, I continued watching the exchange.

"It's not about the price-ya! I just don't want to be blamed after I sell that info-da!"

The second ninja then retorted, "Why would we blame you-gozaru?! No matter the price, we'd still be thanking you! So just tell us already, about the Extra Skill hidden on this floor!"

That made me stop. An Extra Skill was one that you couldn't normally get in your skill tree without some sort of special conditions. In other words, they were Hidden Skills.

However…

The only ones I had found during the beta test were Meditation and Katana. Meditation was something that allowed you to recover faster and shortened the time of negative status effects. However, it was very useless and very lame. No player wanted to be seen sitting in the field in that stupid pose. And as for the Katana skill, the one that the Kobold Lord had used, I still didn't know its requirements.

Problem was, Meditation could only be obtained on the sixth floor, and Katana should've first appeared among the monsters on the tenth floor. And here we were, standing at the entrance of the second floor's field. So I had no idea just what that skill was that only Argo, and those two ninjas seemed to know about. And if I didn't know, then neither did most other testers.

Ninja One – I didn't recall their names – spoke up again. "We'll pull it off today for sure-gozaru!"

"We'll do whatever it takes to gain that Extra Skill-gozaru," followed up Ninja Two.

"You guys won't understand!" Argo retorted, "No matter what you say I won't sell the info-goza – oops, I mean I won't sell it-nya!"

Sparks seemed to rise from that battle of verbal tics, so it was then I decided to jump down between the two parties.

"Who are you-gozaru?!"

"Spy from another clan?!"

Really, these guys were that much into the act of being ninjas. You could call them a type of chuunibyou* I guess.

"Right then, you two, what were your names again? Catty, no, Pesky, no wait…"

"Kotarou and Isuke from the Fuumaningun Guild-gozaru!"

It seemed I was already able to enrage them. "Right, right!" I said, clapping my hands. Now then, what could I say to lower the tension here? Ah, of course.

"As a secret agent of the government, I can't overlook this action by the Fuuma ninjas."

I heard Argo slap her forehead. However, that only served to make those two chuunibyou more suspicious.

"You bastard, you're from Iga aren't you?!"

Seriously? Maybe I should've said, "I'm an undercover member of the Koga."

Too late for that though. They'd already simultaneously started drawing their weapons. To think they had gotten into the act so much that they wouldn't even hesitate attacking another player based on their chuunibyou delusions. I sighed, and steeled myself to fight.

Help came from an unexpected direction.

Catty, Pesky and Argo were standing at the entrance of the field. In other words, they were still, by the game's parameters, within the safety of the city. While any attacks among players here would damage them, no monsters would approach this place.

However, I was standing on a small cliff above them and _just _outside the boundary. And if a player stood for too long in one place of the field, what else could happen?

I stepped back slowly, not intimidated by them, but what was behind them. "Look behind you," I said.

"That's not gonna work on us!" they shouted back in unison.

"Oh, I'm not kidding. Just take a look."

The two seemed to heed the tone of my voice and turned to look around, and came face-to-face with a two-and-a-half-meter tall Trembling Ox. Found only on the second floor, these things had a lot of attack power, as their imposing frame implied, and also had a very wide targeting range.

That monster had located me when I had stepped into the field. By now, however, I had stepped back to safety. It was the two ninja, who had jumped back at my arrival, who were in the cow's range.

"MOOOOOOOOOO!"

"GOZARUUUuuuu!"

They dashed straight towards Urbus in the distance. The cow would follow them right up to when they reached the Inner Area**.

I let out a breath after they had disappeared and the sound of the chase had faded. I then looked down at my appearance.

Before the boss battle, I only had a plain grey shirt and black leather pants. Now, with the Coat of Midnight I got from the boss, along with my black hair and eyes, I probably gave off the impression of a ninja a well. I wondered whether I should change just the inner shirt's colour to prevent the "Iga Kirito" rumors that may start.

Small arms stretched out and someone hugged me from behind. "You know, that was pretty cool, Kii-bou."

It was a different tone than I was used to. Before I could reply, she continued, "But isn't something like that against the rules of Onee-san, the information dealer?"

For all my acting and drama, I had no idea how to reply to something like that. Being a gamer doesn't exactly mean you get along with other people a lot. I didn't even understand what the heck she even meant.

"Well… you owe me one anyway. Tell me why you have those whiskers."

Argo was a small girl, with mousy hair and three whiskers on each cheek. Those were why she got the nickname Rat, but no one knew why she had them. And I was going to use my Free Info Debt to find out.

"…Okay-yo. Just wait till I take the makeup off…" she whispered.

Then suddenly she drew away from me and exclaimed, "No wait, I'll change what I'm telling. I'll tell you about the Extra Skill hidden on this floor!"

In a matter of seconds, Argo had returned to her usual cheeky expression.

"I promised you any piece of info, so I will tell you. However, you're gonna have to promise me not to blame me."

"You said that to Catty and Pesky too, but I don't get why–"

"Promise me first, Kii-bou," she said, making a sly grin.

I had an extremely bad feeling about it, but I shrugged it off and said, "Alright, I promise that whatever happens, I won't hold a grudge."

"Great! Now follow me-nya!"

The path we followed afterwards should have been impossible to traverse without a map or unlimited vigor. We had to climb cliffs, get into a cave, and use a small stream like a waterslide. Three times we ran into battles, but none of them were difficult for me. Thirty minutes later, we had reached the summit of a particularly high mountain near the edge of the second floor.

The summit was a clearing surrounded by cliffs. All that was there was a single tree, a spring, and a small hut.

"Is it here?" I asked, knowing it was obvious. Argo still nodded before walking to the hut and opening the door.

There wasn't much inside. Some meager furniture, and a monk-like middle-aged man. When I say monk, I mean the well-built, bald, bearded kung-fu kind of monks. Above his head was the golden question-mark, indicating a quest starting point.

Argo nodded at my curious look and said, "This NPC here gives the Martial Arts Extra Skill-nya. Whether ya want to take the quest or not is Kii-bou's decision-nya."

"Martial Arts?"

"My guess is it's a skill that allows you to attack with your bare hands. Which means it's useful if you drop your weapon or its durability runs out-nya."

"Hoh. Then it's actually useful unlike Meditation. So then … ah, that's why those ninja wanted it."

Argo didn't seem like she understood, so I explained it to her.

"When you hear the word 'ninja' you normally associate it with shuriken and katanas, right? It's a bit different in gaming. Removing the head of an opponent with a single strike from your hands was a particularly popular 'ninja skill' among that kind of games. Knowing that skill was a mark of your expertise in those games. Catty and Pesky were most likely after the Martial Arts skill in the hope of being able to make their ninjutsu 'complete.'"

Explaining this far, I frowned as a thought came to me. "Hold on. If they didn't know about this place, and they were pestering you about it, knowing that you knew the place, how did they even know in the first place about the Martial Arts Extra Skill?"

Argo hesitated only for a second. "Here's a bit of info out of goodwill-nya. Right before the beta test ended, an NPC on the ninth floor revealed that there was a Martial Arts master here on the second floor. Those two ninja must have heard it from that NPC. I found out long before that though-yo. And ever since the official server launched, they've kept bugging me to sell the info about this place-sa."

"You could've just said 'I don't know,'" I pointed out.

Argo looked hurt. "That single 'I don't know' would've destroyed my pride as an information broker."

"… so you chose to say 'I know but I won't sell it.' I can understand that but…" I sighed.

"So why were you saying things about 'not keeping a grudge'? It's not like you don't already have enemies in your trade…"

"Grudges from buying info are forgotten in three days-sa! This is something else! Even if it's lame, you have to keep it your whole life…"

I noticed Argo trembling, but I had no idea why. That same bad feeling came back and was dismissed.

"Well, it's not like I don't need this skill. So don't worry, I promise, no matter what happens, I won't blame you."

I walked up to the old man sitting in a Zen position. The NPC in a Tao outfit looked at me and said, "Thou wishes to be a disciple?"

The guy even spoke in archaic language. Seriously, Kayaba had no imagination.

"Yeah."

"Even though there shalt be a long and steep road of training?"

"I'm expecting no less."

The question mark changed into an exclamation mark and the log at the corner of my vision verified my acceptance of the quest.

The old monk, my new master, walked out of the hut to a huge rock at the corner of the garden behind the hut. It was about two meters high and one-point-five meters wide. The bald monk tapped it and said, while stroking his beard, "Thine training is merely one. Split this rock with thine palms alone. Once thou succeeds, I shall impart to thee all my knowledge."

"… Hold on, what?"

I tapped the rock with my hand. It felt almost exactly as hard as the Immortal Objects, the things in the game that you couldn't destroy. This was definitely impossible.

I turned back to the monk, preparing to cancel the quest, when–

"Until this rock is split, thou art forbidden to leave this mountain. Thou must also demonstrate it in front of me."

And out of nowhere he fished out a paintbrush and a pot.

The bad feeling came back with ten times the intensity. And before I could say anything the paintbrush was dipped into the pot and then blurred towards my face.

In that very instant I knew how Argo got the whiskers.

I screamed pathetically and fell back. I glanced at Argo whose face showed deep sympathy – and barely restrained laughter.

Immediately I tried to wipe my face, but the ink seemed to have already dried. The monk looked at me, nodded, and then said, "Thou may not lose that Mark until thou has completed the training. I believe in thee, my disciple."

With just that, he disappeared into the hut. I didn't move for a whole ten seconds before I finally decided to confirm my hypothesis.

"Let me guess, Argo. You accepted this quest during the beta test, but gave up on clearing it right? You had to keep playing with those marks for the rest of the beta test. And after the official game started, you decided to live up to your nickname of the Rat and used makeup to put back those marks to use as your distinction as an info dealer. Am I right?"

"Excellent! That was an excellent deduction-nya!" Argo said, clapping. "Congrats, Kii-bou! You obtained the info on both the 'reason behind the whiskers' and the 'extra skill!' for free! Therefore I'll tell you something else for free. That rock? It's a demon-dayo!"

"I knew it," I sighed.

As a last grasp at hope, I asked Argo, "Hey, are my markings similar to yours?"

"Well, it's different-nya…"

"Really?! Tell me it's not too bad!"

Hopefully I could cancel this quest and still return to my daily life while carrying these marks. Maybe people wouldn't even recognize me and I'd avoid the threat of being a Beater.

Argo looked at my face for three seconds, and then said in a slightly shaky voice, "Well, in one word, I guess it would be … Kiriemon-nya."

And with that, she finally exploded and fell to the ground in hysteria, limbs waving around as she laughed endlessly.

For three whole days I stayed on that mountain, after which I finally managed to split the rock. And when Argo came back nearly half an hour after I had accomplished it, it was only because I had promised not to hold a grudge that I didn't decide to inflict some sort of torture on her.

Argo did not know what to make of the boy, except that he was most definitely a pervert.

It had been three days since she had seen Kirito on top of that mountain, and the fact that he was not around no doubt meant that he was still trying to break that rock. Argo couldn't help but be impressed at his will. If it was her who had gotten that … those _markings_, she would've worn a bandanna around her face for the rest of her time in the game.

And as such, Argo was sitting in one of the numerous inns Urbus had when she heard someone call her from behind.

"Uh… you're Argo the Rat right?"

Argo turned around to see a brown haired boy in full armor. Recognizing what the armor was, she immediately realized, _Oh, this guy's a beginner-nya._

Putting on her business smirk, Argo asked him, "I am-nya! Are you looking to buy information?"

"Uh, yeah," the boy said, hesitant. Argo also noticed how the boy's eyes travelled all across her. A vague dislike settled in her gut, but she decided to ignore that. This was business after all.

"Well then-nya. What kind of info are you looking for? Rare items, quests, maybe even another player's personal data? I have everything you could ask for-nya."

"Well, can I say this somewhere else? It's a bit embarrassing to say in public, especially in this kind of game."

That perked up Argo's curiosity. This might lead to some new personal info to put in her stock.

Curiosity killed the cat, people said. But curiosity could never kill a rat

Sometime later, Argo was genuinely surprised.

"You're telling me you can't use any weapons-sa?"

"Urgh," the boy said, grimacing, "I just don't feel right with any kind of weapon. I'm always getting scared of accidentally nicking myself with my sword so…"

Argo eyed the short-sword at the boy's side, which he had probably chosen more to lessen the danger to himself than to use on monsters.

"Well, then-nya. What is it you're looking for exactly?"

The boy sighed. "Might as well just say it. Is there any sort of unarmed skill in this game."

Argo paused, hiding her surprise. Was it really such a coincidence that only three days after she had told one person about the Martial Arts skill that someone else asked her about it? Maybe walls – or cliffs – did have ears.

"You know-yo. This is a game where you're supposed to use swords. That's why it's called Sword Art Online."

The brown-haired boy groaned again.

"But there is something like an unarmed skill set."

He looked at her, a faint enthusiasm in his eyes. "Really? That's much better! I'd feel easier with using only my own fists. How much is that info?"

"50,000Col."

"Ehhhhhh?!"

Her latest customer looked like he had been struck by lightning. "That's too high, that's way too high!"

"Or, you could give me some info in return-nya," she said, putting on a sly smile. "I'm a tad curious, so I'll just ask. Is this your first time playing an MMORPG?"

"MMO… what?"

Argo sighed. She knew why she asked the question. After the Beater incident, she had wanted to live up to her status as a beta tester. And as a result, seeing the newbie in front of her, she felt like it was her duty to help him. For free, even.

"What exactly did you usually do to spend your time?" she asked. "Forgive me-nya, but you don't look like someone who has many friends." That last comment was just a cheap shot for him looking all over her.

"Well, eroge, hentai, eroge, peeking, eroge, eroge, hentai, eroge … wait, what do you mean by 'I don't look like I have many friends?!'"

Argo suddenly had a strange urge to stay as far away as possible from the boy in front of her. "Try anything-nya and I will make sure you pay."

At that, the boy looked confused. "What? What am I gonna try? You don't even have much oppai–"

The two of them were in an inn where there was nobody around except NPCs. They were also within the Inner Area, where striking a player would not decrease his or her HP.

And so, Argo jumped out, grabbed the boy's collar and, turning, flipped him face-first onto the table. Hard.

"Depending on what you say next," she said, completely calm, "I can either whack you around this place for a while, and then leave, or I might, just might decide to help you-nya."

"Okay okay okay! I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!"

Argo sighed once again and said, "Head to the city's gates, the one leading towards the mountains. I'll meet you there in ten minutes, so go and get yourself ready." With that she let him go, and he dashed out.

Luckily for Argo, and unluckily for the boy, nobody had been around to see Argo break her composed, yet impish expression. She would make sure to teach him a lesson so that he did not try anything out in the field, where she couldn't simply teach him _another _lesson.

Argo decided then and there that she now had a free piece of information to sell to female players about a brown haired lecher.

I very nearly panicked when I saw Argo again, because, regardless of whether she had seen my face before or not, those markings were still embarrassing. I had not looked at my reflection until the instant I had completed the quest.

I had forgotten the fact that I had completed the quest when Argo arrived thirty minutes afterwards. I remembered just in time not to make a scene and give her information which she would gain a profit out of and I would lose dignity out of. And so I nearly didn't notice the other person she had with her.

"Ah, Kii-bou!" she exclaimed, noticing me. Then she noticed the lack of _whatever it was_ on my face. "Wow, congratulations! You cleared the quest-sa!"

"You are extremely lucky that I promised not to blame you," I said in the coldest voice I could muster.

Argo could only laugh nervously at that. "So," I asked, "who's that?"

The boy finally looked at me and was about to introduce himself when Argo spoke up. "Well, he's Lecher … no wait, Pervert … no, hold on was it Voyeur…?"

"That isn't my game name or my real name!" he exclaimed.

"You might as well make it one of those-sa. Anyway, Kii-bou, you can call him any one of those."

The indignant brown haired boy turned to me, and, out of habit, I checked his equipment. The short sword Copper Slicer was at his side – high in power, low durability and a small range. I then recognized his armor and groaned inwardly. Red Protector, a red full-body set of armor that offered extremely high END boosts plus it had a 10% chance of halving the damage. It was available very cheaply at the first floor's shop. Why was it so easy to get? Because it had a ridiculously low durability. One beta tester had bought it and went off alone into the second floor field. He came back and yelled at the NPC for his money back, as it had shattered in just half an hour.

The guy obviously had little to no experience with MMORPG gaming. After I realized all that, he finally introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you. My name's uh, HK Ise. But you can just call me Ise."

"Voyeur here wants to learn the Martial Arts skill, Kii-bou," Argo explained.

"I just told you my name for the fifth time!"

"You're still Lecher to me-ya."

"That's a completely different name."

"Anyways, Pervert here," Argo continued, ignoring Ise completely, to his indignation, "decided he wants to use only his hands and feet to fight. So I decided to bring him here."

"How much did you make him pay?" I asked.

"Eh? I didn't need to-nya," she said, a malicious smile forming on her face. "The payment's in the quest itself, remember?"

I didn't like the look on her face. I decided to spare Ise upcoming embarrassment, and told him, "It'd be best for you if you left this place here and now."

"Hey, are you trying to scare me away?" he said, looking determined . "I didn't follow her through all that just to go back again!"

"All that? It was only a few cliffs, a couple of battles and a stream."

"Ehh?! There was an easier way?!"

He turned his angry gaze on Argo, who merely stuck her tongue out. "Kii-bou, don't discourage him~. He really wants to learn that skill after all~"

I sighed. "Alright, follow me Ise," I said to him. "But I'll give you a small piece of advice: run while you still can."

"If you try to run I'm going to drag you back-nya," Argo countered.

Ise looked confused at our words, and then decided to take the quest anyway. I led him to the hut.

About two minutes later, all three of us were at the newly-rejoined rock, and he was yelling his brains out at Argo, who was once again rolling on the ground laughing.

"You! You didn't tell me I had to go through … through … through this!"

"You … never … asked-ya!" Argo replied between breaths.

"I did try to warn you," I said meekly.

"You should've warned me better!"

Argo finally stopped laughing, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "So then, I'll leave him in your care, Kii-bou."

"Hey, hold it!" Ise yelled, "You still haven't apologized for leading me the long way around the mountains!"

"If I hadn't taken the long way, we'd be getting into a lot of fights which you, being a newbie, probably wouldn't survive. The one fight we did get into was avoided by use of _my _AGI so _you _owe me quite a bit-nya," Argo said in a steely tone. That shut Ise up.

"Oh … uh, in that case, thanks?"

Argo huffed at that and then left.

Ise actually managed to split the rock a few hours before I had managed to, which was a slight blow to my pride. He was a beginner, I was a beta tester, and yet he surpassed me.

Otherwise, Ise, you could say, became my fourth friend in Aincrad. I helped him out during his training, teaching him some things a gamer should know, and in return he provided a training post for me. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but seriously, he really wasn't very good. Whenever he swung his short-sword, he'd have this expression on his face going _Don't let it touch me! _and as a result couldn't fight properly. Even though he was wearing a full-body armor, he still couldn't overcome that fear.

Normally, if SAO had gone as we had thought it would, nicking yourself with your own sword would've been a laughing matter. If we'd died in the field, we'd reappear in the town's plaza and sheepishly say, "Guess I lost…"

But SAO was no longer a recreational game. It was still a game, but not one you played. Ise seemed to understand that really well. And as such he, never having played a proper game before, chose to use what looked best to him: a full body armor with high defenses and a short-sword with high power. He ignored the durability completely.

I also found out why Argo had called Ise various synonyms of Pervert. The night after he had completed the quest, we were still up on the mountains (none of us felt like going back yet). And strangely, here on the summit of a virtual mountain, we built a virtual campfire and had a real camp of sorts.

"What does HK stand for?" I asked him, who was prodding the fire with a stick.

"Eh? Oh, it stands for Harem King."

"…What."

"I'm serious! That's my dream!"

Really, what sort of reason did he have for joining the game if that was the case?

"Although, right now, we've all got our real faces, so I guess HK Ise is pointless. You can call me–"

"Stop," I said, raising a hand. "Not that I mind, but speaking about your real life has become taboo among the players. People are afraid that if they start missing the real world more, they might once again realize that the game is impossible."

"That's crazy," he countered, pointing the stick at me, "If you start missing your real life, doesn't that mean you're only reminding yourself of everything you have back there? Doesn't that just give you more reason to fight?"

"Well…" I started, not sure how to explain. "Put it like this. Suppose you're standing at the bottom of an infinitely high mountain. Somehow, your house got stuck on top of that, along with the rest of your family. You start to climb, trying to reach them, but then you start remembering just what it is you've lost that's all the way up there."

"Well, I'd just keep climbing–"

"No wait, let me finish. And as you're thinking all that, you look around and you suddenly realize that the mountain-side itself has everything you could need. Houses, food, recreation, even other people who are in the same situation as you, so you're not alone. Human instinct at that point would suddenly speak up: _'Hey, if you can't really reach your old house, this isn't such a bad compromise is it?'_ At some point, they might really give in to that."

"Oi, Kirito, that's bullshit and you know it. We're not getting any food here! Every one of us is on a hospital bed connected to God knows how many tubes and slowly getting thinner!"

"And that's where the problem is. Some players don't _want _to think about reality, which means they don't think about that either. They know, obviously, but looking at the game once again, they realize, _'Why don't we just wait it out? We're gonna die anyway, so why do anything at all? Let's just enjoy whatever tiny entertainments this world has to offer while waiting.'"_

"Yeah, but this game isn't the infinite mountainside you're talking about," Ise said. "I really didn't understand half of that, but hey, the first floor was cleared right? It means that this game isn't impossible! So we can still try to fight!"

I really didn't get how he was being optimistic. Just talking about that gave me a sinking feeling. I decided to quickly change the topic. "Hey, Ise, if you didn't come here to actually play the game, then why did you enter SAO?"

"Huh? To meet up with some cute girls of course!"

At that completely Ise-like response (he was such a unique person I already made him into an adjective), I couldn't help but sigh and cover my face. "You really are some sort of pervert aren't you?"

"Can't help it," he said, laughing. He didn't even try to deny it.

There was more small talk until we both decided to sleep. I was still thinking of how optimistic Ise was. Sure, this game wasn't impossible, but it _was _the thing right below impossible.

Also, two thousand players were already dead. How many of us would be alive by the time we reached the 100th floor?

I glanced over at Ise, who was snoring on the other side of the dead campfire. People who were as optimistic as him was what we really needed on the front lines – even if he had no idea how these games worked and only came here to satisfy his lust.

I didn't know back then that Ise would be the first one to break under the death game's pressure.

The next morning we planned to make our way down. I made sure Ise understood that he was to stay back during any and every battle and let me handle it.

Before we left, however, we trained the Martial Arts skill for another hour or so, and got ourselves a third skill each. I took the time to explain to him about the lag that happened in between special skills, and he nodded, but I'm not sure he realized how important that was.

He clearly didn't, and that was part of the reason why what happened had happened.

The two of us had only walked so far that the hut was still in the distance. That summit counted as a safe area in the field, as no monsters approached the place. But if you walked about five minutes down the mountain from there, you'd start being attacked by enemy mobs.

We had formed a party and the two of us were taking a different path – a shortcut. By combining our two map data, we'd found that neither of us had really come the easiest way. There was a clearing somewhere down below which led to a straight path hidden by shrubbery directly towards the entrance of the field.

I really should have stopped to wonder why Argo had skirted around that area. I should've remembered what an empty clearing meant inside an MMORPG.

"Hey," Ise suddenly said, stopping and bending down. "What's this?"

At his feet was an odd plant with very bulbous leaves.

"Leave it," I said, my sense beginning to come back. "In a place like this, it really shouldn't be touched."

The plant was giving me a very bad feeling of déjà vu. Ise said, "Hey, it could also have some sort of hidden item right? Yeah, that does happen in games!"

Too late, I remembered what that plant was. Ise touched it, and the 'leaves' exploded, releasing light purple gas of sorts.

"Dammit!" I shouted, unsheathing my sword and turning around. Where were they gonna come from? Which direction…?

Bellows sounded – from all around us. Ise panicked and also drew his Copper Slicer. "Sorry!" he yelled over the noise.

"Say that after we get out alive!" I yelled back. We both readied ourselves.

And then the worst possible situation happened.

A huge horde of monsters charged out of the trees. There were over a dozen of them, and still the sounds came from the forest. Ise yelled in fear as the two of us drew closer in the center of the clearing, facing the approaching beasts.

Black Rhino. A huge black rhino as its name implied, with bloodshot red eyes and a horn that glinted like steel. They had very little HP but a lot of END due to their thick hide. They were also first found on the third floor.

And a certain type of trap on that floor involved a Scent Bulb plant which exploded at the slightest touch, calling in huge numbers of them.

"Avoid the horns!" I yelled instructions to Ise. "If they hit you with anything else, you'll barely get any damage. If not, that armor of yours will easily break! Also, aim for their eyes!"

Glancing back, I saw him shaking. Had he been in any real battles yet? I didn't have time to think about that as both of us raised our swords and began hacking away at the first wave.

I tilted my body to the left to dodge the first horn and stabbed my Anneal Blade directly into the monster's left eye. That being its weak point it shattered into polygons almost immediately. I jumped over the second approaching one, swinging my blade upwards to slash out its eye, and it roared and got struck by another Rhino that had been aiming for me from the left. That made two down.

These monsters did not need Sword Skills to finish them off if you were of a high-enough level – even if you were a really low level, two or three timed stabs in the eyes could take care of it.

I jumped back and thrust my sword forward, just in time for it to move past the horn of a Rhino attacking from my right and killing it. Slamming the flat of my blade at the side of a fourth horn, I switched the sword to my left hand and dashed forward, swinging it in a wide arc and striking one in the eyes and digging the blade into another one's hide. Another slash killed that one, and for the moment my immediate surroundings were clear. I then risked a glance back at Ise and my heart missed a beat.

Ise was facing off about three of them simultaneously. The advice about timing his Sword Skills had gone over his head. He was basing all his fighting on said Sword Skills, while taking strong hits during the lag.

The green light of Thrust shone as he luckily managed to hit one just above its eyes. While the polygons scattered, another slammed its horn against the red armor. At the corner of my vision his HP bar entered the yellow zone, while cracks appeared on the Red Protector.

A bellow brought me back to my immediate worries. I let my instinct take over, and blindly slashed my sword, still in my left hand, towards the left. It clanged off a horn, but the impact had caused the Stun effect. With all other Rhino's still just outside danger range, I dashed to Ise's help – just as the armor broke.

Ise screamed in terror, and a horn glanced off his hand, knocking the short sword away. Having lost that, he went crazy, and began wildly attacking them with his hands and feet.

Two Rhinos approached me from both sides, and one from behind. At that moment, I decided to do something extremely stupid.

I jumped up, and the two beasts at the sides collided and ricocheted back far enough to clear a path. Still in mid-air, I reached out and grabbed the horn of the Rhino that was behind me. A shock travelled across my arm, and I lost some HP, but I was now on top of that Rhino. I rode on it, hacking away at all other nearby monsters, and when it reached Ise, I stabbed out its eyes and jumped off the instant before it shattered into polygons.

There was a sudden glow at my corner. Ise's HP had entered the red zone. He must have seen it too, because then he yelled even louder and got into the motions for the strongest Martial Arts skill he had learned.

I had to reach him fast. Beast Slayer had tremendous attack power, but an extremely long lag-time. Long enough for three of the Black Rhinos to kill Ise with one blow.

While running, I lowered my body and raised the sword above my head. I stopped for a fraction of a second once I got in range, and Anneal Blade began glowing neon green. I activated Sonic Leap, and dashed at top speed towards the assailants, bringing my sword slanted down.

One was killed immediately with an accurate strike. Another one had its horn broken off _(a rare drop, _the gamer-me thought at a corner of my mind) while the glowing Anneal Blade cut straight through the jaw of the third. Ise launched his skill, and his fist, glowing deep red, shattered the horn of a fourth and straight into its face.

The hornless Rhino had been inflicted with Stun, thanks to the blow to the horn, but the third one was still fine. With just a fraction of its HP left, it charged Ise at full speed.

The resulting impact blew him ten feet away.

I didn't have time to call out his name. The instant my lag ended I jabbed my sword into the backside of the attacker, and pulling it out, cut off another one's eyes in the same stroke. Two of them, just outside my range headed to where Ise had fallen. The last two.

Using my speed as a front-line player, I raced them. When I was parallel to the one on my right, using a backhanded grip I stabbed it in its weak point. The polygons dispersed behind me as I worked to get in front of it. Overtaking it, I turned around and, pointing the sword straight at it, I brought my arm backwards.

The scarlet glow in Vorpal Strike destroyed the horn and the skull of the final Rhino. And then, the entire field was silent.

I hurried to where Ise was, bringing out my strongest potion as I did so. Reaching him, I shoved the bottle straight into his mouth, and glanced towards his HP bar. My heart stopped.

HK Ise HP 001/596

Slowly, the potion began to take effect, as Ise finally sat up, shivering in abject terror.

"Drink the whole thing quickly," I urged, handing him a second bottle once the first was emptied.

However, he didn't seem to hear me. He was staring blankly forward, and while I was right in front of him, he didn't seem to see me either.

"One … one HP …"

"Yeah, one HP, you got lucky, you survived, now drink it up!"

"I … I died … I nearly died…"

"Oi, Ise! Get a hold of yourself!"

While I shouted at him, I also realized just how close he had gotten. The chances of him surviving that last strong hit with just a single hit point were less than one in a million. That highly impractical armor was what had saved him. Had it broken even one second earlier.

"Kirito … you were right … all of us … we really are going to die …"

"Shut up now!" I said, grabbing the second bottle out of his nonresponsive trembling hands and shoving that one into his mouth as well. His HP bar returned to the yellow zone.

"This game … this death game … it really is an infinite mountain … we're dead, we're all … we're all dead!" he yelled suddenly, spitting out the bottle and jumping to his feet. He ran, not towards the town, but back towards the monk's hut.

"Hey, Ise! Ise!" I called, but he didn't hear me.

I had no choice but to follow him.

After that incident, Ise would not walk ten steps away from that hut. He stayed there for two days, making no move to leave.

I couldn't just leave him be, but I also realized that nothing I tried would work. Sword Art Online had completely broken his spirit in one fell blow.

I had to leave him there. The spring contained drinkable water, and the monk made a rabbit stew every night – always two bowls, the second of which you could take without any reaction from the NPC. The lone tree also had apples in it, so his hunger and thirst wouldn't be a problem.

Just that one near-death battle had given the kid with dreams of becoming a Harem King a crippling fear of death. He would not even dare to leave that safe area in case he ran into a situation like that again. The trauma had struck him far too hard.

All I could do was let him stay there and recover. It may be slow, it may even be never, but that was all I could do. I had my own mission, to clear this game.

I had to clear this game, not for just my own sake anymore, but also for the sake of those who had broken like Ise had. I had to help them. As a beta tester, even as a Beater, I had a duty to lead the other players back to the real world. If only I had realized that sooner, and taken the lead along with every other tester on the very day the game had begun. Could all this have been avoided then?

It had only been two floors. There were still ninety-eight more floors to open, and ninety-nine floors to clear. Was it possible? Was it really possible? Or were we all trying to scale an infinite mountainside?

That was the last time I saw Ise in Aincrad. I was sure he didn't die, but I did not know whether or not he ever went back to his former self.

**Law of Karmic Humor: if at first funny and light-hearted things happen, expect something **_**not funny **_**to happen pretty soon. I follow that rule very strictly.**

**Yeah, Ise is not gonna appear for the rest of Aincrad. Like I said, this is only supposed to serve as a backstory for him.**

**Apologies for the chapter being about 2.5 times the size of the last. Now I just need to figure how to bring in the other guy in the next chapter. Which might take a while.**

**In the meantime, I plan to put up the first chapter/prologue of my third story.**

**Till next time. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	5. Chapter Four: Floor 11 Part One

**This chapter took so damn long. Way too busy IRL. Family events every other day, Flash Pilot (EPIC), SNAFU volume 9 (NEED AN ANIME SEASON 2 NOW) and DxD 17. Plus some other books my friends gave me.**

**I see a lot of you don't particularly like what I did with Issei. Which means there's some stuff I need to clear up:**

**1) All I said was that **_**Kirito **_**never saw Isse again. So he can only assume, judging by what he saw of him the last time they met, that he never left.**

**2) The Aincrad arc will take longer than I expected, so Issei won't really have a large impact till later, after getting into Rias' peerage.**

**3) Staying up there constantly training his Martial Arts skill (there was no description in SAO of how you trained a skill) will give him a bigger edge once out of SAO**

**4) He won't stay broken forever.**

**Now to answer the other reviews:**

**reality deviant: yeah, this goes on after SAO. Which, again, will take longer than I had hoped.**

**IzanagiMikoto: Kirito and Asuna are the main chars of the SAO arc because, it's the SAO arc.**

**Greatazuredragon: Yeah, I'm trying to move past Aincrad as fast as I can without making it too fast.**

**In any case, back to the story. PS: was the 11****th**** floor ever described? If yes, then here's a huge difference. If not, well, 11****th**** floor.**

**I split this chapter into three parts, and this is where Kiba will play a key role.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: SAO and DxD belong to Kawahara Reki and Ichiei Ishibumi respectively. I am neither.**

**Chapter Four: Floor 11 Part One – The Deadliest Floor**

Five blue lines traced the path of a near-invisible sword as Asuna unleashed Neutron to finish off the 10th floor's boss. The sound of shattering polygons was masked by the cheering of the 48 players who had arrived here at the Boss Room with the goal of reaching the eleventh floor.

They had plenty of reason to cheer. Since that disastrous first month, things were finally picking up pace. There hadn't been a single casualty for the last three boss battles. Also, more people were working to join the front lines.

Inside, Asuna smiled. Things had finally begun to look brighter for the residents of Aincrad. With this battle, ten percent of the floating castle had been conquered.

The one cheering the most was the rambunctious man with the bandanna, Klein. He and his friends were very nearly dancing in victory.

_Honestly, _Asuna thought, _are they just trying to be jokers?_

She herself was keeping herself composed. Already people had started looking to her as a sort of leader. So she decided she had to project the calm image people expected of leaders. Of course, that didn't mean she didn't feel exhilaration at having come this far.

As Asuna watched, Klein detached himself from his group of friends – who had also formed a guild named Fuurinkazan (she laughed when she heard Klein announce himself as the leader of a guild named as such) – and went over to the one person who was staring at the large doors, not taking part in the celebrations.

That person, dressed all in black, his new weapon Queen's Knightsword slung over his back, was obviously Kirito. While he always took part in the clearing raids, and was undoubtedly one of the strongest players on the front lines, he never mingled with the others. His status as a Beater had made him the most detested player in SAO. However, his strength still acquired some grudging respect from few. Although, as far as Asuna knew, Kirito only had friends in her, Klein, Agil (who had set up a small shop) and the information broker Argo.

Kirito normally would be the first one through the doors once a boss was defeated. But here he was, just standing in front of the doors with a serious expression. As Klein drew near to Kirito, Asuna also approached them.

"Oi, oi Kirito!" Klein said loudly, "What're ya all serious for? Come on, join in the celebration!"

Kirito didn't reply, and instead walked slowly to the door. Reaching it, he drew his sword and slammed it against the frame. The clanging noise silenced everyone as they looked at the swordsman in black with varying expressions.

"You guys," Kirito began, "Listen up. Where you're standing right now is as far as the beta testers ever got. You know what that means?"

He turned around and looked at them, a rare grim expression on his face, and pointed his sword at the doors. "It means that beyond those doors is completely uncharted territory. From here on out, things are gonna be much harder than before."

"You looking down on us, you rotten beater?" said a spiky-haired male Asuna had come to completely detest. Kibaou had not changed a single bit since the first floor and seemed to have more interest in badmouthing beta testers than clearing the game. Although, since he had sufficient strength, he was a necessary player for the front lines.

"No information," Kirito said, silencing him. "No guidebooks, no monster description lists, nothing. Whatever knowledge I didn't bother sharing with the rest of you doesn't matter anymore. Past that door, every one of us is walking blind. If you're up for it, then that's fine. If not, you might as well leave."

Asuna sighed. _Does he _have _to play up his role of 'arrogant Beater' at every chance he gets?_

It was easy to see the players weren't convinced. Mutters broke out among them. "How do we even know whether the beta ended on the tenth floor?" "He might be lying, and probably is trying to get the good spots on the next floor to himself."

The mutters died out and an uncomfortable silence hung over the players. "Jeez, Kirito, didja have to go and do that?" Klein grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Asuna said, walking past him and opening the doors. "If we wanted drama in Aincrad then we would have an Acting skill, Kirito-kun."

Unlike usual, behind the doorway was a stairway leading to a cavern-like passage. Grumbling mentally about Kirito's antics, she walked up the stairs.

Asuna and Klein can say that all they want, but acting that tough is ridiculously hard!

It's not just to increase my reputation as an "Evil Beater." It's not just to keep the other testers away from their detest. It's also to make sure a third person doesn't try and slip a paralyzing potion into my drink at the inn.

If I don't do that much to try and scare them, at one point they might even throw me into jail.

I turned my back to the other players to hide my sigh, and followed Asuna up the stairs. I got a strange feeling of achievement. I didn't know where the 700 surviving beta testers were, but once again I had gotten ahead of them.

The stairs were shorter this time. Like always, there were forty-eight steps. This time they spiraled so much you could see the cavernous passageway above. I decided I wanted the first look at the eleventh floor, so I raced up the stairs, hoping to get there before Asuna did. I seemed to have forgotten that she had already obtained the nickname of Flash.

Entering the passageway, I noticed that it bent to the left after a distance. Turning at that point, I noticed that it bent again towards the right. Asuna stood there, staring at the tunnel's opening with – was that shock?

"Hey, what are you all astonished … about …"

I refused to believe what my eyes were showing me.

The first floor of Aincrad, Starting City, had been a mash-up of just about everything. The landscape was erratic, and all in all, it was like a small game in itself, like an introduction to SAO. The monsters had massive variety among them.

The second floor had been a mountainous region with monsters that were mostly beasts you would find in the wild.

The third floor was a foggy area where even map data would not help you much. The monsters started becoming more humanoid, and in general was where I thought SAO had begun.

Every floor afterward up to the tenth had followed specific themes. The eleventh floor did so as well.

However … what I was staring at could not have been more out of place.

The key colour was red. Everything was in some shade of red or the other. There was no sky – instead a red-brown cave roof held up by massive, _massive _rock pillars served as a 'sky.' Ravines and cliffs were found whichever way I turned my vision.

That wasn't the most striking part though.

The eleventh floor looked like the inside of a gigantic volcano. No, it was worse.

Lava flowed wherever I looked: between cliffs, flowing from a crack high up near the end of the massive cavern, forming rapid rivers in between ravines. Rickety wooden bridges were built across the steeper cliffs. Five-foots wide rocks flowed with the lava rivers, seemingly to serve as stepping stones to get across.

And in the center of one extremely large lake of lava, was an island with dilapidated buildings made from black marble and stone. Right at the center of the island was a tall white spire, at the top of which something glinted.

All this was about fifty foot below us, and to get down we had to scale a cliff with narrow rocky paths.

Klein and the others soon arrived to find us frozen on the spot. They too looked and they too could not breathe.

"What the hell…?" Klein said quietly. "What the hell is this?"

Nobody replied to his words. I was thinking only one thing:

After we had managed to clear a tenth of Aincrad, was this Kayaba's way of mocking us? Of showing us just what we were up against? Everything on this floor looked designed to kill an unwary player.

As forty-eight people gathered in silence, a geyser erupted near one of the bridges. Lava sprayed over it, melting through the wood. Even as the splinters fell into the rivers of fire below, the bridge began repairing itself.

I took a step forward, out of the passage. Immediately a grim BGM began playing. Words flashed across my vision:

_Aincrad Eleventh Floor: Ragnarok Isle_

The forty-eight members of the clearing party did not run into any monsters on the way to the town.

However, three players had died just trying to get there.

The eleventh floor, Ragnarok Isle, was designed to kill players with almost every aspect of its landscape.

The first person died when we were crossing the river. The moving five-foot wide stepping stones were not very difficult to navigate if you were fast and extremely careful. However, one person tripped and fell into the rapid lava flow, and in seconds was carried away, screaming, his HP rapidly dropping. We only barely made out the blue polygons scattering amongst all the red.

Afterwards, during the time when we were crossing a bridge, a geyser erupted and splashed over two other players. The wood below them melted and they fell into the rapid lava stream hundreds of feet below. The rest of us barely hung on, and watched as the bridge repaired itself, making what happened seem like a lie.

It was a grim party who finally arrived at the island town right in the center of the floor. Forty five grim players stood at the transfer gate, a heavy atmosphere hanging over us.

"Hey, Beater," Kibaou spoke up suddenly. "Did the test really never reach this far?"

"… We'd just found the boss room of the previous floor when it ended."

Kibaou seemed to be considering whether to believe me or not. Apparently he decided on the former, and then shrugged.

"Say, do we have to open this gate?" Asuna said suddenly. All of us turned to look at her. She returned our stares and continued, "Most of the players who are gonna come through that gate probably don't have that much strength or experience. If they walk around carelessly on this floor…"

"I don't think many of them will want to even leave this town," I told her. "And I'm pretty sure once most of them has had a look around, they'll go back down."

After a while Agil decided that he would activate the gate, go through it to the previous floor and tell everyone who was waiting to explore what exactly the eleventh floor held in store for them. The rest of us went searching for inns. Nobody felt like looking through the dungeons at the moment.

The monsters of the eleventh floor were weak, and at the same time ridiculously strong. It was also the terrain that made any and all battles outside the Inner Area all the more dangerous.

The first thing I met was the Level 12 monster Magmoeba. In appearance, it was just like the slimes you battle in normal games, except made of lava, and it had a spherical rock core inside its body. The easy part? They had low HP and were somewhat slow in movement.

The hard part? Where to start…

Firstly, the lava that made up their bodies damaged players on touch, so even without attacking they could damage unwary players. Secondly, their attacks were slow, but powerful and had a wide range. Thirdly, their attacks (along with everything else on this floor) had the chance of inflicting a Burn condition. It did worse than merely halving the attack. What it did was blur your vision and make the part of your body that had been struck more vulnerable to damage.

Fourthly, they couldn't be damaged. Slicing through the lava only damaged the weapon's durability. A player had to strike straight through the core.

Last was the most annoying aspect of it: suppose a player managed to land a clean hit on it, chopping its core in half. Like a reproducing amoeba it would split into two, the sum of whose stats equaled that of the original one. They didn't have equal stats, so it was possible for one to get most of the defensive strength and the other to get most of the offensive strength.

The only way to properly kill it without first letting it reach its limit of eight fractions was to use a two-hit Sword Skill, or just cut the core twice before it split, very fast.

Trying to use Sword Skills would be extremely dangerous when travelling alone. That problem was avoided by Asuna ordering all the front-liners to always work in parties and then _specifically _ordered me to form a party with her. I tried to say I'd be fine on my own, but after sending me the request she nearly dragged my hand to the 'Accept' button, and would have if I hadn't agreed.

What she had said was, "As idiotic as you are, you're one of the strongest players we've got so don't go off dying to some random mob on this floor."

I was about to make some wisecrack or another, but her glare shut me up.

Five days passed without much happening. We had almost completely cleared the dungeon – which was inside the walls that surrounded the eleventh floor, specifically the north side – but there was no sign of the Boss Room.

It was around then that I first heard about the Crimson Knight.

**I really wish I had more spare time on my hands to actually be able to write this story continuously. This one chapter took me a week (out of which five days I couldn't write).**

**Part Two will hopefully be done soon, and the Gremory's most skilled knight takes the stage. Well, him and Kirito and Asuna.**

**Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo**


	6. Chapter Five: Floor 11 Part Two

**So I had to scrap my first attempt at this chapter. Had severe writer's block thanks to my internet acting up (still acting up. Writer's block due to that doesn't make sense does it?) I have no idea how I'm supposed to survive the next few days, with a net speed of 15kbps. Loading a page on this site takes two minutes at the least. That's if it loads.**

**Anyways, I am going to keep writing. I plan to start two other fics around now as well and am going to write them side-by-side. Don't know how much time I'll get what with my busiest school year starting in two weeks.**

**In short, my updates may be irregular. Sorry about that. And anyways, back to the story.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or DxD any more than I own a high-speed internet.**

**Chapter Five: Floor 11 Part Two – The Crimson Knight**

The last Magmoeba was cut down in two rapid strokes by the blonde-haired swordsman. Having defeated the current mob, Kiba Yuuto sighed and lowered his sword.

"Not fast enough," he muttered, and sheathed his silver blade. Looking around and seeing nothing else, he sat onto the hard rock, waiting for his HP to heal and the next group of monsters to arrive.

He should not have been hit. He should have been able to easily avoid any and all attacks those monsters threw at him. He was a Knight, he could not allow himself to be struck so easily.

Even in this game, he had foregone boosts to END and VIT and focused most on ATK and SPD. He had considered boosting LUK as well, but decided that he would not try to depend on chance.

And yet even so, where in the real world he should have been able to cut down ten of the monsters in a second, here it took him far longer, and he even got struck in the process. One or two he could still take down flawlessly but numbers over half a dozen always landed a blow on him.

It should not have happened. It happened, however, because the game was limiting him. And as such, he worked every day by himself to bring himself back to that level.

Kiba had told both his master and his sensei that he would use the game to become more skilled. Yet if he was being restrained in it, how could he hope to accomplish that?

Of course, he wanted to get out of the game. But he did not want to leave having accomplished nothing. He did not want to go back and tell Rias, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't get stronger."

It would be unbearable.

His HP having fully recovered, the annoying Burn condition having lifted, and no monsters having appeared yet, Kiba got up and decided to move to a different spot. And that was when he heard the sounds of a fight happening not too far from him, mixed with voices.

_Don't they know excessive sound will only attract more monsters?_ Kiba thought, shaking his head. It looked like he might have to rescue yet another party of players.

The sounds were coming from behind a massive ten-foot high dark red boulder. Kiba stopped at the edge and peered around the corner. What he saw nearly made his jaw drop.

There were only two players and over a dozen monsters. Kiba thought it was only because he had the reflexes of a Devil that he had managed to survive battling ten at once.

Yet here were two players who were taking down monsters with ease as more appeared from around. And what's more, they still had the time to argue while doing so.

"You idiot, why couldn't you just try and take them out one at a time!" a brown-haired player – a female player – yelled at the other player, a black-haired male.

"I was sure I could've gotten them both at the same time! And what about you, how'd you miss killing those ones?!"

"I only missed because you made that one split and it attacked me! You think I could land a hit on the others while trying to steer clear of that one?!"

"Is it my fault that you're jabbing at them?! You're supposed to kill them at once with two quick strokes, not jabbing away at the core and reducing their HP bit by bit!"

"That's easier for me with a rapier!"

"Forget about what's easy or hard will you?! On your left!"

Saying those last words the black-haired swordsman turned to his right and swung his sword, which began to glow a poisonous green. At what seemed like the same instant, the sword cut towards the right _and _towards the left. While he did so, the female player's thin sword shone a neon-blue and what looked like five beams of light dug into the core of another monster. Both monsters shattered. Freezing for a second due to having activated a Sword Skill, they continued striking down the Magmoebae with seeming ease.

It was then Kiba noticed something. Something he should have noticed long ago. Realizing it, his first question was, _How?_

The two players were moving with a speed Kiba had still yet to achieve in-game. A speed that far outstripped his own.

As far as he knew, his constant training and stat boosts to speed should have made him one of, if not the most, fastest player in Aincrad. Added to his Devil reflexes, it should not have been possible for anyone else to reach a speed like that.

And yet the two players here were moving much faster. The female player, wearing light magenta leather armor, was moving her blade so fast that even Kiba's eyes only caught the afterimage. She was going on an all-out offensive, not letting the monsters even get close to her before a barrage of white lights struck them down.

The male player, who was wearing a black longcoat, was even more shocking. He too went on the offensive, but his heavier blade should have restricted his motion. It did to an extent as some monsters got past it and tried to attack – but as if he knew the precise moments when they would do so, he struck back instantly: that was how fast he reacted. Against one or two he may have been able to predict their movements, but against six or seven it would take much more than that. It would require inhumanly fast reflexes.

_Are they Devils like me?_ Kiba wondered. After all, if he was here in the game, that meant it was likely there were others too. He knew the game could not have been of human origin, otherwise his master or her brother could have gotten him out. But he did not know whether or not he was the only Devil trapped in the game. Watching the scene in front of him, he decided to believe in the former.

It was a matter of seconds before almost all the monsters were down. He saw the two players unleashing Sword Skills one last time and two more monsters shattering into polygons. They froze again, but this time they would not get so lucky.

There were two monsters, one behind each of them, who were about to launch their attacks.

Kiba drew his sword and dashed forward immediately. Reaching the first monster behind the black-clothed boy – _he probably wasn't even fifteen_, Kiba realized – he dug an X-shape into its rocky core. Running straight through the dispersing polygons at the second monster, he swung his sword to the right, and in the same motion spun around and landed a second vertical slash a millisecond before it began to split. The sound of a dying monster echoed off the massive rock as a small part of Kiba wondered at how much detail was put into this virtual world. Sheathing his sword, he turned to face the two players.

When the two of us were able to move again, we turned to look at the new arrival who had probably saved us from near death – once the Burn condition took effect, it was immensely hard to keep fighting and was very easy to get damaged. A blonde-haired boy in light armor looked back at us. He looked to be around the same age as me, and like me, had a longsword at his side. I wore mine on my back, but whatever. The armor was Crimson Spurs, a lightweight armor that boosted your speed, but didn't add much to your defense. The sword was a Silver Slasher, the eleventh floor shop's ordinary weapon, basically a leveled up version of the beginning Iron Sword.

"So then, who are you?" I asked.

"Kiba Yuuto. You?"

Hey, come on. I already had one idiot with me who used her real name for her in-game handle. As if she had heard my thoughts, I felt the said person staring daggers at me.

"I'm Kirito. This here is Asuna, who incidentally also used her real name here."

If we were inside the Inner Area, she would have no doubt punched me for that. Right now, she had to settle for increasing the intensity of her glare. She shook her head once, and said, "You really don't know how to introduce people properly do you? Well, anyway, I'm Asuna, and the two of us are clearers–" she faltered at that point, having noticed something. I looked back at Kiba and noticed it too.

The normally plain red armor had some sort of magic circle or something drawn onto the breastplate and the shoulders. Kiba noticed where we were looking and said, "Oh, this thing allowed you to customize its appearance. You could draw any sort of pattern you liked on it."

"Drawing a magic circle won't exactly improve your skills you know. Even though it's an RPG, it's rare in the sense that there's no magic system."

Kiba looked at me for a second and then sighed. "I know that much. I just felt like putting my m – my own mark on it."

Something nagged at the back of my head after hearing that and looking once more at the crimson armor. Then it came to me. "Ah! You're that guy that there's been all those rumors about!"

Asuna glanced at me once, before she too seemed to understand. "That's right," she said, "'A crimson knight training by himself in the dungeons, always saving those who were in danger.' Something like that, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. To be fair, I thought it was an NPC or something."

"Why on earth would it be an NPC you idiot?"

"It was a hunch of sorts."

"It appears your hunch was wrong then, Kirito-kun, wasn't it?" Kiba said, interrupting us with a slight smile. "I am a real player, not a knight in shining armor that keeps players alive. It would be better if something like that existed in this game, but …"

I smirked at that response. "Well, from what we've heard, we already have one. The only difference being it's not shining armor."

Kiba chuckled at that. Asuna spoke up then, "Hey, what are you doing out here in the dungeons? For someone who seems as strong as you do, how come I've never seen you on the front lines?"

"Well … I just needed to do something before I go to the front lines," he said ambiguously.

"Anyways, how about joining us for now? We're gonna go ahead and clear the dungeons and hopefully find that boss room. If you've been around here a lot, then you should have a lot of map data that we don't."

"Clear the dungeons?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's already been a whole week, so it's high time we found that boss room."

What he said next somewhat dashed our hopes. "I've been all over the outer field, and I've pretty much gone through the entirety of the dungeons inside the walls. I haven't yet found the boss room."

"That can't be right," Asuna said, frowning. "Aincrad has a hundred floors. Why shouldn't there be a boss room on the eleventh floor? Is there some other way up? Or …"

"Hold it," I interrupted. I didn't want to think about that. That we were on a completely hopeless mission. Plus, that was absolutely impossible. "Kiba, judging by what you said, there's still a spot of the dungeon you haven't been to?"

He considered it for a second, then opened his map to public view. The eleventh floor's dungeon climbed upwards along passageways concealed inside the border walls. Of course, there was also the field that was enclosed by those walls, so it necessitated two different maps: one for the field outside the dungeons, and a three-dimensional map of the passageways within the northern wall.

He trailed his finger through the near complete passageway map, until he stopped at one point. "There is one corridor I haven't gone through yet," he said thoughtfully.

"Perfect, then that's where it is," I said, convinced that I was right. "So, do you wanna join us in finding the boss room?"

He wasn't sure, I could tell. He wanted to clear the game, I could also tell that, but something made him want to go slower. It wasn't that he liked the virtual world – so he wasn't like me who had caught myself thinking now and then like that – but something else. At least, that's what I thought.

"Kiba-san," Asuna said, "We're trying to clear this game so we can go back to our lives. You want that too, right? We could use any help we can get."

"I do want to go back," he said. "It's just … no, never mind. I'll come."

While we were in the dungeons, we obviously ran into a battle. And I got to see clearly just how strong he was.

The first thing that I noticed was that he was fast. Almost as fast as Asuna and I. Like me, he used a one-handed longsword without a shield. Like Asuna, he focused most on speed.

Watching his movements, however, I realized that there was more.

Asuna and I were dealing with some Magmoebae at our sides, while he was facing a Salamander Mutant, which looked like a cross between a wrestler and a yellow draconic lizard. It had high physical strength, but was very slow, so it would be a pushover for most players. What made it tough was its Fire Breath, which had an ever larger range than the Magmoeba's attacks, and was also fast. A stream of fire that spread in an arc, which melted away at your armor, drastically reducing the durability. A player had to time his movements right and move away the instant it took a breath. A player also had to avoid excessively using Sword Skills, as even a second's delay could be fatal.

Kiba focused on speed, so naturally he did not have much trouble warding it off. However, his motions were something I noticed to be odd. They were regular, and completely efficient. Not a single arm or leg was ever out of place, always in the position he needed them to be. The movements were clearly etched into his muscle memory – but they weren't Sword Skills. In fact, he didn't use Sword Skills.

They were his own skills. Ten floors of experience shouldn't have got him to that level. No, it was definitely something he knew before he entered SAO. When fighting, Kiba gave off the impression of someone who was trained, who was experienced at using a sword. Properly experienced. Naturally, that made me curious, but at the moment I didn't have time to worry about that. I had to deal with my own opponents.

A Magmoeba jumped at me from the left. Keeping my wrist steady, I jabbed the Queen's Knightsword into the middle of the core, and then sharply twisted the blade – a new trick I'd picked up on how to beat them. The core crumbled to pieces right before the monster shattered, and wasting no time I slashed the blade towards two more approaching me from the right. Immediately after cutting cleanly through them, I activated Snake Bite to finish them off.

Asuna was having no problems as she danced around the blobs of lava, avoiding their attacks as she sent stab after stab at them. Even now, seeing anything beyond the afterimage of the sword was impossible for me. Lightning-fast, her sword ripped through the magma bodies of the monsters and created deep holes in their cores. After each of us had taken down our immediate concerns, we turned towards Kiba, only to see a burst of fire blast him.

He dodged most of it, but I saw his HP bar drop to yellow at the corner of my vision. A small flame appeared on the HP icon, meaning he had been Burned.

Asuna zoomed towards the Salamander, and sent about half a dozen stabs at its face. The beast roared and swung a fist at her, but she nimbly jumped out of the way. It inhaled once more, about to release another Fire Breath but –

At some point, Kiba had gotten back up. He shouldn't have been able to see properly due to the Burn. Even so, holding his sword in both hands, he charged at the Salamander and brandished the Silver Slasher, gleaming in the light of the lava streams lining the cave. The Salamander exhaled, and a fan of flames rushed at Kiba.

Neither Asuna nor I expected what happened next. Kiba jumped to the right, and kicked off the cave wall and went straight over the flames. Bringing up his sword from the right, with both hands, he landed a clean blow straight at the monster's neck. Its HP dropped to nil, and it burst into blue polygons.

Kiba dropped to his knees, disoriented due to the Burn, and Asuna ran over to him, swiping down her left finger to open her menu. She handed him a Blue Tonic, which both healed HP and negated Burn. He uttered a "Thank you," before drinking it.

"Why don't you use Sword Skills?" I asked. I was too curious.

"I don't want to simply leave it to the system," he said. "I want my motions to be mine."

"Were you in a kendo club or something in real life? Cause you give off this feeling of being experienced."

Real-life questions were a taboo, and Asuna looked at me, surprised that I'd ask that.

" … I suppose you could say that," he replied, smiling.

"In any case, Kirito-kun, how's your condition?"

"Hmm?" I asked, surprised. "You can see the HP bar right there you know."

"Not that," she replied.

"Oh. Well, I'm not too tired really."

"Then scout ahead for a few minutes, will you? I'm going to rest for a while, and I'm pretty sure Kiba needs some too."

"Asuna-san," Kiba started, but was cut off. "Five minutes," Asuna said. "That's all. Then we'll be on our way again."

"Um, in case you've forgotten, we're sitting in the middle of a dungeon. We can't stay in one place too long."

"There is that," she said thoughtfully. Kiba then spoke up, "There's two corridors ahead, and one leads to a safe area."

"Perfect," she said, smiling. "Let's take a breather there."

Of course, as Asuna had put it earlier, since I wasn't tired, I had to go scout out the dungeons. The two corridors Kiba had mentioned, one led to the safe area, while the other was the one he had yet to explore. Three minutes later I returned to the safe area to find them talking.

" … have probably done whatever they can by now, which means there's no external method of leaving here," Kiba was saying.

"It's been a bit over two months, surely–"

"Asuna-san, two months is a long time. If anything was possible, they would have done something by now."

"Yo," I said, interrupting their conversation. "Talking about the outside world trying to bring us back?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, that's what it was," Asuna said. "I suppose I shouldn't have hoped too much that they would have found some way. Still, it's hard to believe that Kayaba took so many measures."

Before the mood turned too grim, Asuna shook her head and then asked me, "Anyway, Kirito-kun, did you find anything? You're back pretty early."

I sighed. "The two of you better come quickly. You're not gonna believe this."

Time to divulge the bad news.

"No way…" Asuna muttered. "Where is it? Where's the boss room?"

The last corridor ran completely straight and it had an extremely high concentration of monsters. The three of us had fought all the way here this time. It seemed that the more players that were in the corridor, the more monsters would spawn. I didn't have much of a hard time going through alone, but when three of us entered, the number of monsters rose exponentially.

And where the corridor ended – was an empty cavern. No large doors, no passageway blocked by a giant rock, nothing. An empty, black cave with one NPC sitting in a corner, sharpening a blade.

"This isn't possible," Asuna said, her fists trembling. "We can't have come all this way just to never get any further again. I can't accept that…"

Kiba too was shocked at the outcome. We'd covered the entirety of the dungeon to our knowledge, and yet we still hadn't found the boss room. Could we have missed something …? – is what I was thinking the first time I entered the room.

"Any moment now," I muttered, waiting.

Then a voice broke the silence. "You, strangers. What are you doing in this hell?"

Asuna stiffened at the voice, and turned in the direction it had come from. The NPC who was sharpening his sword looked up.

The NPC looked to be around 40 years of age. His hair was unkempt, and he had stubble on his chin. His clothes were ragged but still held, and he had a thick leather belt around his waist. He also had an eye patch. At his feet were a scattered selection of items, including a very wide scabbard that held another sword.

"What…?" Asuna asked. Kiba remained silent, staring at the NPC.

"I asked you, what are you doing in this hell?"

Before Asuna spoke up, I raised a hand to silence her. "Let me," I told her, and turned to the NPC. "We're trying to go beyond this place, but we can't find the way to."

"Then you're in the wrong place."

"Wrong place?" Kiba asked.

"There is no path beyond this cave that leads out of Ragnarok Isle. The passage to above is somewhere else."

"Where? Where's the way up?" Asuna asked.

"The Marble Spire in the center of the Isle."

I was surprised when I first heard this. I had thought that spire was just a decoration of sorts, something to add to the scenery of the town. There were churches on the first floor, but they served no important purpose.

"What does the Spire have to do with reaching the next floor?"

The NPC got up after hearing that. He dropped the stone he was using to sharpen his blade and held the sword to his side. After he stood up, we saw the lantern that was behind him.

It looked like a miniature blast furnace, like the diagrams found in a chemistry book. Except, it was filled with glowing and shifting magma, and we could see that.

"On top of the spire is a cannon aimed towards the higher west walls of this floor. Place the Magma Lantern behind me into the cannon, and then fire it. That will lead you to the floor above."

"Then," Asuna said, unsure what to say. She had reason to be; there were some NPCs in the previous floors who would attack you if you said the wrong thing during an important Quest conversation. She had reason to be careful now. "Then, could you give us the lantern."

Caution wasn't a matter here. The NPC raised the sword and pointed it at us. "The road to the next floor is extremely dangerous. It is possible that you will die easily should you face the guardian of this floor. I will not hand over my Lantern to those who may lose it easily."

An HP bar appeared over his head. "Prove to me your strength. Defeat me, and I shall give you the Lantern. Defeat me, and you can prove to me that you are strong enough to face the guardian."

He stayed like that, waiting for an answer. In the silence that followed I explained to Asuna. "I turned it down the first time I was here. I didn't know how strong he was, and since we didn't find a Field Boss on this floor…"

Asuna bit her lip, considering what I said. It was true; every other floor except the first had a Field Boss which we needed to beat before we could enter the field. This floor did not have one. We thought at the time that it was just Kayaba's mercy on us on this extremely dangerous floor.

Now, however, I had my doubts. Was it possible that this NPC was as strong as a Field Boss? With that thought in mind, I decided not to challenge him alone.

"We don't have a choice, do we?" Asuna said, meeting my eyes with determination. "This is the only way we can carry on. And three of us should be enough for him, even if he's a Field Boss."

"I agree with Asuna-san," Kiba said. "The three of us should suffice against a human-like boss. A large monster would be a different story, but now it should not be too difficult."

"You sure you're ready?" I asked them both. Truthfully, I was pumped up. Death game or not, it was still a game of sorts, and I was still going to enjoy it. I knew that wasn't the right mentality to have, but that didn't change the fact that I thought like that.

Asuna smiled, eyes fierce. "Now or never," she said. Kiba smiled as well, looking eager.

The three of us drew our weapons and turned towards the NPC. "It seems you have the bravery," the NPC said, folding his right arm back and getting into position, his sword giving off a menacing glint. A name appeared over his HP bar – Thanron the Warrior.

"Now," Thanron said, a fierce grin forming on his face, "Let's see if you have the strength to back it up!"

**Ooh, cliffhanger endings. I like using them.**

**Thanron's name took me a while to make. I was gonna go with Thorm, but given that the Norse Gods exist in the DxDverse, couldn't use a god's name. Not even sure if that **_**is **_**an actual god's name.**

**The next chapter will be mainly three battles. One, against Thanron. Two, against the Eleventh Floor Boss. And the third, well, not saying that yet. Plus a couple of surprises involving this version of SAO.**

**After that, I'm gonna have to go full-out SAO once again with the Murder Case story. The difference is going to be that it's gonna be from Asuna's perspective this time. After that, there won't be much left to cover for the Aincrad arc, and then I can finally get to Kuou Academy.**

**News report complete, Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	7. Chapter Six: Floor 11 Part Three

**I recently made the absolutely biggest mistake of my life. I went and read the SAO Web Novel summary, and now I know exactly how the story is going to end.**

**And now I have to live a few more years with this knowledge while I wait for the official novels and the anime. Why? **_**Why?**_

**Amatsumi: While that's interesting, no, that's not what Kayaba had in mind when making SAO.**

**entelejent: Aincrad arc is a starter arc for even the canon itself. I want to get past it and make my own story as fast as possible, coz this arc doesn't really change much here.**

**Also, it seems some of you have guessed a certain thing right. It wasn't **_**that **_**obvious, was it?**

**Plus any of you hear the news about Japan deciding to crack down on piracy? Yeah, it's not a hoax. Hopefully it'll never take flight. If it does…**

**I've decided to split this last part into two parts. Sorry for the late update, family events and what-not this past couple of days. Anyways, best not drag this note much longer.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or DxD any more than … any more than a wisecrack right now. Oh wait… still don't own them though.**

**And I seriously need to know how to do line breaks.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Six: Floor 11 Part Three – The Secret of the NPCs**

Kiba was amazed at how synchronized they were having met no less than an hour ago. Without any sort of signals, all three of them dashed at the NPC named Thanron. Kirito held his sword above his head and headed straight for him, Asuna zoomed in from the right and Kiba prepared to land a back-hand blow from the left.

Asuna reached Thanron first, Kirito close behind and Kiba – to his disappointment – just a step behind. He was sure that at least one of them should be able to land a hit on the NPC, creating a chance for the others.

However…

Thanron thrust his sword forward directly at Kirito's descending blade. An extremely loud clang echoed in the cavern as the impact stopped Kirito dead in his tracks.

Two things occurred simultaneously after that. Seemingly unfazed by the impact himself, Thanron swept his blade to the side, parrying Kiba's attack, while at the same time kicking up the wide scabbard that lay at his feet, blocking Asuna's machine-gun-like jabs while holding it in his left hand. The second we stopped attacking he let go of the scabbard, grabbed the hilt and spun anti-clockwise with both swords held out. There was the sound of sliding metal as the second sword left the scabbard, which flew straight at Asuna, who had jumped back with the rest of us to avoid the attack. Hastily swinging her rapier, she barely managed to repel the scabbard back at him.

Kirito launched another attack as the scabbard was flying back at Thanron. The blade in Thanron's left hand came up to meet the Queen's Knightsword – and somehow caught it and snapped it out of his hands. The glinting blade in Thanron's right hand swung around at Kirito, momentarily unarmed. Kiba rushed in and blocked the strike and this time he felt the impact reverberating throughout his body. _That was a strong one!_ he thought, glancing at his HP bar. Sure enough, a tiny fraction of his HP had been chipped off. Thanron stabbed the other sword at the scabbard flying through the air – and somehow re-sheathed it just like that.

Kiba tried striking Thanron a few more times – all of which he parried or countered – and after receiving a glancing hit that chipped off another chunk of his HP, he jumped back and regrouped with Kirito and Asuna, the former once again armed. Thanron did not move from where he was and only took up a stance once again, dropping the second sword back at his feet.

"That, is insane," Kirito commented.

Kiba had to agree with that sentiment. Three on one, and it was them who had barely gotten out without much damage.

"Any stupid yet feasible plans, Kirito-kun?" Asuna asked. _How does she have the time to snark even now? _Kiba wondered.

"Actually, yes, but not a stupid one."

Kirito turned to Kiba. "This depends on you. We're going to be using your reluctance to use Sword Skills to beat this guy."

"Elaborate please, Kirito-kun," Kiba said, confused.

"Asuna and I will take turns attacking him with Sword Skill after Sword Skill. During the delay after a Skill is ended, you defend the person who's frozen while the other one of us attacks. Given the situation that both of us are immobile, it'll be up to you to keep him at bay while we recover."

Asuna looked at him, feigning immense surprise. "Would you look at that, you do have a proper planning sense."

"Oh, shut up."

"Wait," Kiba said. "I'll attack first and make an opening. Then we go with your plan."

"Oi, you want to do this alone, without Sword Skills?"

Kiba smirked. "Up until now, we've been fighting massive monsters, and not many human-like opponents. In cases like these, if too many people attack at once, they can easily be a hindrance to each other."

"One person is _not _enough to handle a boss-level NPC," Asuna countered.

"Maybe," Kiba replied. "But we don't know till we try."

Of course, he had a different reason for wanting to attack alone.

All the way here, Kiba had felt like the LVP of the party. He was the Knight of Rias Gremory, yet he was the player falling behind the others. He was supposed to be the best when it came to speed and swords, yet he was being beaten by not just one of them, but both Asuna _and _Kirito.

Also, this was the first time he was facing a human-like, powerful opponent. This was where his training should help him – his training in spars with his master. He had experience fighting people who actually used a sword, and not monsters that fought wildly.

At least, that was what he wanted to believe. He didn't want to tell himself that he was simply lacking. Which was why he decided to fight Thanron by himself. He had nothing to prove to anyone but himself.

Kiba didn't wait for a response from either Asuna or Kirito, and charged straight at Thanron. Swords clashed and Kiba's greatest battle yet in Aincrad began.

*~B~*

Blades cut through the air and met with a clash. Sparks flew and metal sang as two individuals fought in the depths of the dungeon.

One fought due to the commands of the system, the orders laid down by Cardinal.

The other fought a battle against himself, to prove his own strength to no one but himself.

Kiba Yuuto, Knight of Rias Gremory, and student of Okita Souji. Survivor of the Holy Sword Project and avenger of those who died in it.

Thanron the Warrior, an individual ordered by Cardinal to follow a fixed set of actions.

Two swords wielded by two individuals. Two silver blurs whirring through the air.

_Faster._

Kiba knew he could do better. He had to do better. He was the Knight of Rias Gremory; he would not be defeated.

_Faster!_

Attacks were made; attacks were parried; attacks were countered. With increasing speed, Kiba tried to land the decisive blow. Bit by bit, it was Kiba's HP that dropped.

_Even faster!_

One would win, one would lose. One had nothing to gain, the other had everything to lose. Swords clashed and spun, as both tried to outdo the other.

As Kiba brought his sword down for another strike, Thanron's programming caused him to make a mistake. He was in the middle of an attack, and Kiba had chosen that exact moment when the set function changed from "Stop attacking to block if countered" to "Continue attacking." As a result, Kiba managed to land a near-clean hit on him after rebounding his sword off of Thanron's. He then noticed how much the HP dropped.

_So he has low HP as well! If I can make a solid opening, Kirito-kun and Asuna-san can finish him off with a Sword Skill each. In that case…_

He had a tiny opening that he could use. And so he decided to, for the first time, use the system.

He twisted around the sword that was at his lower left after the last strike, and began his attack.

Kiba always went out of his way to avoid using Sword Skills. However, for certain skills like the single-hit Horizontal, Vertical and Slant, this proved difficult as they were all basic motions. Until he found a loophole.

Sword Skills were activated by initiating a set of motions with a certain position. For example, Horizontal could be started by putting the right foot forward and bring the sword to the left before slashing it, or vice versa. However, there was a loophole that was easy to exploit once you knew what it was.

No matter how many times you used Sword Skills, the motions each time were 100% similar. Be it the positioning of the feet, or the angle at which the arm stuck out, they were all alike.

Therefore, he could avoid accidentally activating them by shifting his foot at the start one step or so. Doing so, he could avoid entering the initial positions – which were usually stances that the human brain found common – and by entering into the slightly "unorthodox" positions, he could always avoid activating a Sword Skill.

This time however, he decided to follow the "orthodox" movement pattern.

The sword glowed a vibrant yellow, and Slant cut straight through Thanron's defense, knocking him back.

"Now!" Kiba yelled.

Two hurricanes of opposite colors blew past him. A white whirlwind released five blue laser-like strikes that seemed near simultaneous. And then a jet-engine-like roar was emitted by the black blur, and a sword glowing an ominous red-black pierced straight through Thanron. The HP bar plummeted to the red zone, and stopped with about a tenth of the HP left.

_Crap, we're all frozen!_

However…

Thanron did not strike back. Instead he pulled back and then dropped his fighting stance.

"Impressive," he said. "To think you could damage me this much … very well, I shall give you the Magma Lantern."

The three of them could only stand dumbfounded after that declaration. "Eh?" left Kirito's lips. "That's it?"

"We don't have to completely beat him…?" Asuna asked.

"Hey how would I know, I didn't fight him the first time."

"I wasn't asking you, Kirito-kun."

"You have proved your strength. You have proved yourselves strong enough to face this floor's guardian. Therefore, I shall grant you the lantern so you may open the path to the next floor," Thanron clarified.

"Oh, well, that's fine then," Kirito said. "I'd have liked to defeat him completely though."

"You and your battle mania," Asuna said, exasperated.

Kiba too, wanted a complete victory. Or, if it had been possible, he would have preferred to finish off Thanron by himself.

"Anyway, let's not waste any more time here," Asuna said. "Let's hurry and get that Lantern back to the Inner Area."

She walked up to the lantern behind Thanron, who made no motion to stop her, and picked up the lantern. A Quest Complete sign appeared in Kiba's vision, which the other members of the party also certainly saw. Asuna and Kirito headed back towards the cavern's entrance, and then Kirito paused. "Oi, Kiba, aren't you coming?"

"I'll be there soon. Don't wait for me."

"…Alright then." With that, he and Asuna left.

Kiba sighed. He did not like being the weaker swordsman. He did not like losing in something that was his forte.

It happened when he decided to leave and turned towards the entrance.

"Wait, young Devil," a voice said.

*~B~*

Only two people were in that cavern. One was a player who was also a Devil. Another was merely an NPC governed by the system. Someone who's instruction routine should not have included a statement like that.

However, it could not have been any other person. Kiba turned to stare in shock at the NPC who had sat down on the cavern floor and was looking straight at him. Except, he now gave off a different feeling. It was as if he seemed more alive – no, there was a light in his eyes that wasn't there before.

Thanron grinned at his expression. "What, is it that surprising? You should have noticed by now … or have you not been able to use your senses in here yet?"

Kiba was speechless. "You … aren't you an NPC?"

"Hm? Well, according to this system, I certainly am. Now come on, stop standing there and come here. I used up my one chance for this so you better make it worth it."

"What?"

"I want to talk, boy. That crest on your armor, it's the Gremory crest, isn't it? I'm assuming that you're the servant of Lucifer's sister."

Kiba did not know what to do or say. He merely stood in one place and stared at the – was NPC even the right term anymore?

"Stop gawking like an idiot, boy, and sit down over here. You don't happen to have any beer in your inventory do you?"

Kiba regained his sense, but remained wary. "What are you?"

Thanron sighed. "Looks like I'll need to do some explaining first then. But first, give me any kind of food you might have with you. It might be fake, but it's been a long time since I had the taste of food in my mouth."

Still a bit astounded by the sudden turn of events, Kiba brought out a coarse bread toast and threw it over to Thanron. He caught it and began tearing into it.

"So then," Kiba began, "start explaining."

Thanron finished the bread and looked back at him. "No need to be that cautious, I'm not planning anything suspicious. In fact, I probably won't be able to do so. Just sit down already."

Realizing he wouldn't get any answers unless he complied, Kiba sighed and sat down. He then glared at the roughly-dressed warrior and said, "Now talk."

"Alright, alright. Firstly, how much do you know about this game, this world called Aincrad?"

"…It's a revolutionary virtual reality console that lets the players experience the game technically with their own bodies. It was made by a human scientist named Kayaba Akihiko–"

"See, that's where you're wrong. Kayaba is no human."

Surprised, Kiba asked, "What? Is he a Devil then?"

"Not exactly, no. Let's call him the result of a Devil's experiment and leave it at that. That's not the main point here. You sure you don't have any beer?"

Irritated, Kiba brought out and threw him the Elven Ale of the third floor. Uncorking it, Thanron gulped it down at one go. "Ahh, that's better. Now where was I? Oh yes. Anyway, Kayaba Akihiko, being no human, was skilled in manipulating both human and Devil technology. The result, as you can see, is the fact that nobody was able to get you out of the game from outside."

"You mean to say the NERVGear has defenses against demonic powers?"

"Against any sort of supernatural power. How, I don't know, but judging by the fact that all the non-humans who got trapped as players are still here, something effective. As a matter of fact, I think about ten or so died on the first day when the people around them tried various methods to break them free."

"I understand, but that still does not explain who and what you are."

"Players aren't the only ones imprisoned in this game."

Those words gave Kiba pause.

"On the day the game was launched, ten thousand players dove in using their devices. However, at the same time, there were a hundred others who were imprisoned against their will without the use of the device. Or, at least, the same device the players are using. In technicality, and by the system's definition, I am and NPC, a Non-Player Character.

"On the day of the launch, some sort of spell, or casting or the like transported a hundred super-normal beings somewhere. Those beings included me. By the time I woke up, I was here in this cavern, and Kayaba's voice spoke to me. From his words, I realized he was talking to many people at once. He told us that we were imprisoned inside this virtual world that he had created, that we were part of a project of his. We were given the virtual bodies of NPCs and stuck in various locations.

"We had no freedom over our bodies. We could not move them, we could not speak, all we could do is look through their eyes and see a never-changing scenery. Until you and those two came along, I had spent this entire time forcing myself to stay sane while constantly looking at this one blasted sword and feeling my body sharpen it one damn hour after another. There were exactly a hundred of us, he told us, one on each floor. I did not want to imagine what kind of similar torture the other ninety-nine of us are going through."

"Wait a minute," Kiba said finally, suspicion creeping into his voice. "You said you were trapped in those bodies, unable to do anything. So how are you speaking to me right now?"

"You didn't let me finish. Quite the suspicious one, aren't you?" Thanron said wryly. "The last thing Kayaba told us was that while we could not do anything, we were provided with one chance. That is, of all the time that we may spend trapped here, we may regain control of ourselves just once for any one purpose. Of course, he did prevent us from making any of those purposes "clearing the game" or the like. I just used up mine right now, by the way, to speak to you."

"…Why?"

"You're a Devil, yes? And not just any Devil, but the servant of a Maou's sister. I'm going to ask you to aid us, to help the players as much as you can to clear this game."

Kiba frowned at those words. "I will, but please do not expect too much of me. It appears my skills are lacking, so much so that I am falling behind others, other normal people."

"You're a Knight Piece, yes?" Thanron asked. Kiba nodded. "Well, there's nothing wrong with not being the best. And you shouldn't be comparing yourselves to them of all people."

"…Wait, _them? _I thought only–"

"One you already seem to know, and the other seems to be Kayaba's favorite plaything in this world. He speaks to us sometimes, never answers any questions, but occasionally tells us about a fragment of his plans. I think that boy will be given that right after this floor."

"'That?'"

"Just a little edge. Regardless, instead of comparing yourself to others, look first at the shackles you've imposed upon yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Kiba asked.

"I'm talking about your reluctance to use Sword Skills, boy."

Kiba couldn't help but flinch slightly. He had considered using them at times, but never had until the battle with Thanron. "I don't want to rely on the system," he said, speaking as though it was a memorized script. "I want to clear this game with my own skill–"

"Oh, come on, you don't believe that yourself," Thanron said.

Kiba hesitated, and then retorted, "If I don't use my own skills to beat this game, I won't have improved at all once I get out. I will have to go back empty-handed, and I cannot leave without having gained something here!"

"Knight of Gremory, listen to me," Thanron said, putting on a serious expression. "Is your master the kind of person who would care whether or not you've improved yourself in your time here? Because I don't think any member of the Gremory family would place that above their servants returning safely to them."

Kiba bit his lip. He knew Thanron was right, but he couldn't accept the fact that he would spend an unknown length of time without having improved himself at all. He met Thanron's gaze with a sharp glare. "I have a goal I wish to reach, and for that I need to get stronger. I cannot waste my time here without improving my skills in the slightest."

"Is it revenge you are after?"

Kiba stopped. _How did he know that?_

"That glare in your eyes clearly speaks of whatever hatred is fueling your purpose. If it's revenge you're after, then do you have the time to spend satisfying your pride?"

Thanron's words put a pressure on Kiba's heart.

"I don't have any place to speak about whatever hatred is fueling you, but if it's vengeance you want for whatever reason, do you really have the time or energy to waste trying to hold up your pride? Putting that aside, revenge isn't a very healthy reason to live."

"And like you said," Kiba replied, anger seeping into his voice, "you don't have any place to speak about it."

"Alright, fine. But if you really want to get stronger, then why are you actively preventing yourself from doing so?"

"There is no convenient system that guides my motions in real life!"

"No, but there is your brain. Use Sword Skills. Use them again and again until your muscles remember each and every motion. And once you are out of Aincrad, use your demonic powers to recreate those Sword Skills. By learning to use Sword Skills here, you can learn to utilize them in the real world. That is the one advantage you have by being a Devil."

Saying that, Thanron got up. "If you want to get stronger, you have to use every chance that you are given. Just remember one thing: don't make it so that revenge is the only thing that drives you forwards."

"You don't have any right–"

"What will you do afterwards, then? _What will you do once you have taken your revenge?"_

Kiba found it somehow difficult to answer. "I … I will…"

"Think about that. Think about who it was that made you her servant. Think about your master, Rias Gremory."

Kiba could not answer. _Why? Why can't I just say I will become my master's sword?_

"I've lost count of how many days I have spent staring at myself sharpening this damned sword. Do you think I've never given a thought to what I would do to Kayaba should I ever find him? Do you think I've never had my own thoughts of revenge? He trapped us here, with zero freedom. Some of us don't even retain their own appearance and voice. A few of us may even be in a position where the players are supposed to fight and kill them. I don't even have a good bottle of beer to spend my time with."

The last statement completely destroyed the tension that had built up.

"Whenever my thoughts went too dark, I remembered my wife and son that I left behind in the real world. Granted, I wouldn't ever get to see them anyway, but by remembering them, I realized I couldn't let myself be taken over by a temporary, empty purpose. I've been through where you are right now. I have once taken revenge on someone for a certain cause. What I felt afterwards was an absolute emptiness. Do not let yourself fall into that as well."

Picking up the plain metal blade, he began to walk back to where he normally sat as an NPC. "Overcome it. Overcome that thirst for revenge, and find yourself a better reason to live. Use what the system offers to get stronger, but get stronger not for the sake of your revenge, but for the sake of your master."

Thanron turned around, sat down and picked up the sharpening stone. "Now go, Knight of Gremory. Defeat this world and return to your master."

And with that, he began once again to sharpen his sword. The glow left his eyes and Kiba knew that he had gone back to his bodily prison.

A single exclamation mark, however, still floated above his head.

_We finished the quest, so what else does Thanron – no, the NPC have to offer?_

Kiba began to wonder whether he should find out the cause of the exclamation mark, or simply walk back towards the Inner Area.

After a while, he made his decision.

*~B~*

**And that ends another chapter. Once again, apologies for the late update.**

**Now then, here's some good news and bad news.**

**Good news: I'm also going to start my second continuous story as soon as possible and run it alongside this one.**

**Bad news: for those of you who were expecting the Clannad fic, sorry, it's the other DxD fic, I still don't have enough ideas to start the Sunohara story without going on frequent hiatuses.**

**More bad news: I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update though, since my busiest school year is starting next week. If all goes well, I can update the stories every Friday and Saturday. If not, then every other Friday and Saturday.**

**More good news: I have this story planned up all the way until post-Alicization and post-Qlippoth. So I probably won't fall into any writer's blocks.**

**Anyway, that's that. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	8. Chapter Seven: Floor 11 Part Four

**Technology seems to hate me in general. My internet is back to a speed a snail could outrun with ease, my phone's internet is going haywire, and I basically get more bad luck every day. Seriously, how are you supposed to even **_**use **_**an internet connection that bad. Oh, and it seems now some of my keyboard's keys are a bit unresponsive. Wow.**

**Add to all this that school's started and what with that plus coachings (which money-hungry idiot invented the concept of coachings in the first place?) I only ever get any free time on weekends. Any at all. And those are the days my family decides "Oh hey, let's do an event somewhere." Which is why I couldn't update last Friday (Friday is the first weekend in this area of the world, to those who didn't know) and am writing this now while at the same time counting down till the next little thingy.**

**Greatazuredragon: technically … it's not an extra skill, per se. Well, it is and it isn't. Ah, whatever, not gonna spoil what's gonna show up this chapter anyway.**

**On to the story, but first, **

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or DxD any more than I own free time on Thursdays. Seriously. Not one hour of time.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Seven: Floor 11 Part Four – The Eruption of the Spire**

"You've gotta be kidding me," the player with the bandanna groaned.

Kiba had just made it back to the Inner Area of the eleventh floor to meet up with Kirito and Asuna, who had finished telling the other clearers about the twist of the boss room.

"Hey, even I thought that spire was just a decoration, Klein," Kirito replied.

"But, come on. All this time and the boss room was literally right above our heads? That's a bit hard to swallow, Kirito. You seriously seem to have a habit of attracting the unusual."

"Huh?"

"Not only was it you who found where the damn boss was hiding, you even somehow managed to find and bring that rumored player here."

At those words, all eyes turned to Kiba. He wondered why and how he had gotten this well-known.

"I'm just lucky, I guess," Kirito said, chuckling.

"I don't think so, Beater," the spiky haired player spoke up. It was obvious to Kiba that he, and quite a few others, detested Kirito for reasons he didn't know.

"Shut it, Kansai."

"The hell did you call me?"

"Well, since you're name's a bit too similar to Kiba here," Kirito said, jerking his thumb at Kiba, "I decided to call you Kansai instead."

'Kansai' evidently did not like the nickname, and Kiba didn't particularly like the fact that his own name was similar to whatever the arrogant player called himself.

"In any case," Asuna broke in, looking as though she was used to antics like these, "we now know where the boss room is, so do we go now or do we just keep this item for longer?"

_Now, _Kiba thought, but did not voice it.

After his talk with Thanron, Kiba was left with a lot to think about. He told himself that getting revenge for his friends who died in that institute was why he wielded a sword. However, being stuck here he had no chance of doing so. He needed to get out. He could no longer stand at the side sharpening his blade while others battled to escape. It was high time that he put his own strength in the mix.

And maybe, what he received from the NPC Thanron, would help him even further.

"Hold it," Klein spoke up. "None of us are prepared for whatever the boss might be. We should probably go and stock up first. And are you sure you don't want to send some scouts ahead first."

"…I would have gladly agreed to that, but we don't know anything about this floor. We don't know any of the conditions surrounding the boss battle this time around. If we send someone now, and they use the Lantern on what's up there, what happens next? Is it something that we can reset or redo? Do we even get more than one chance? We don't know any of that."

"This is still an MMORPG game, you know," Kirito said. "We should get second chances–"

"Kirito-kun, this is and isn't a game. Does it really adhere to all the rules that are a given for other games?" Kiba asked.

That silenced Kirito, and made all the other players ponder as well. As the silence began to grow uncomfortable, Asuna spoke up. "In any case, Klein-san's right. All of us should prepare, stock up on potions, get our weapons in top condition and then meet back here tomorrow."

With that, the players dispersed, leaving behind the currently three strongest of Aincrad. Kiba sighed in relief. "Are meetings always this exhausting?"

"You bet," Kirito said. "And that Kansai idiot didn't make as much of a fuss this time."

"Only because this time you weren't so much of an idiot," Asuna remarked.

Kiba chuckled at how their conversations always managed to revert to that point. "You two might make a great couple," he said. Almost instantly, the two of them froze up, and Asuna very deliberately moved her clenched fist away from Kirito and created some distance between them. This time Kiba laughed.

"On a different note, Kiba," Kirito said, "why does that thing on your back look so familiar?"

_I was wondering when they'd notice. How hard is it to spot?_

On Kiba's back was an unusually wide sheath with a blade hilt poking out. A very familiar sheath and hilt.

"You saw it only a while back. Especially you, Asuna-san, I would've expected you to remember what you almost got impaled by."

"I had it under control," she retorted, glaring. "But is that really it?"

"Yes. This is Thanron's second sword."

"Wait, there was a secondary quest? Oh man…" Kirito groaned.

"Not exactly a quest. More like he just gave away that weapon."

"Seriously? Damn it, I should've stayed a while longer."

Kiba wondered what would've happened if he had. Would Thanron have stayed silent? Or would he risk revealing himself to an ordinary human? He couldn't be sure.

"Let's not stay here any longer," Asuna said. "We need to get ready for tomorrow. Get some rest and maybe train a bit more."

"Yes, Leader-sama," Kirito said sarcastically. This time he got kicked.

*~B~*

Kuou Academy was no ordinary high school, mostly because its students were not all ordinary humans. Of course, there were other places all over the world where non-humans mingled with humans, but Kuou Academy was designed, beneath the surface at least, for Devilkind. Some students that the school was in charge was also in turn in charge of the school and its surroundings. Except said students-in-charge were not exempt from school work, a subject on which the higher Devil authorities turned a deaf ear to complaints and inwardly chuckled.

Being such a school, even if it wasn't known to the general public, the atmosphere had an effect. The school offered quite the variety of facilities.

But for first-year student Rias Gremory, none of those facilities could help ease the worry that had been eating away at her for the past two months.

The Sword Art Online Incident had sent both the human world and a part of the Underworld into crisis. Neither side had any idea how to bring back the people imprisoned by the game. And even though she protested, wanting to stay near her captured servant, the higher-ups had decided that that did not matter, she needed to enter Kuou Academy, and prepare herself as a territory owner.

Akeno entered with her, but her Rook Toujou Koneko was still too young, so she hadn't yet become a student of the school. However, she did stay at the Occult Research Club during the entirety of the school period. She still hadn't managed to open up to anyone and still remained mostly quiet.

"Gremory-san, are you listening?" a voice said.

Rias looked up to meet the gaze of her stern teacher. "You've been increasingly absent-minded over the past few days. Care to explain why?"

"Sorry, sensei."

"Pay attention a bit more."

Once the teacher turned back to the board, Rias sighed, returning to her thoughts. Two months, and there had been zero progress with trying to undo Kayaba Akihiko's schemes. Neither could anyone even begin to take a guess at his motives.

What's more, there had been news of a hundred beings of different mythologies and factions had also been trapped aside from the players. Or, at least, they had gone missing at around the same time, which led everyone to assume as such. The Underworld was in a tense situation, since it was there that the perpetrator had originated. The thin balance between the Three Powers had also become shaky.

At the moment, though, Rias did not care about any of that. She simply wanted her servant, her family back. Gremory house prided on having the most affection for their servants, and Rias was no exception. She would give anything to keep her servants safe.

The bell rang, and the teacher left after setting an assignment. Rias sighed once again, and laid her head on her desk.

"Excessive worry is not good for your health, Rias."

She lifted her head to see her childhood friend Sona Sitri giving her the usual impassive stare, with just a hint of worry in her eyes.

"I'm alright, Sona."

"You don't look like you are. Wouldn't you agree, Akeno?"

Rias' first servant, Himejima Akeno, her Queen and the other of her closest friends had also come up. "Sona's right, Rias. Since there's nothing we can do, we need to just wait and believe in Yuuto-kun's ability."

"But there has to be something we can do!" she said a tinge loudly, attracting a couple of stares, ones that weren't already in their direction, that is.

"There isn't. The one person who may have any idea, Ajuka Beelzebub-sama, is under pressure not to do anything. It could have dire effects on the Underworld. If those extra hundred hadn't been taken as well, then there may have been something."

Rias sighed. "Have they found your sister yet?"

For a second, Sona's calm mask broke and her worry surfaced. "No, they're still looking. To imprison even Onee-sama with the other 99, how strong a being did Beelzebub-sama make him?"

"Sirzechs-sama said that it wasn't strength that was the factor," Akeno said. "In fact, I think we can count ourselves lucky that the madman didn't also trap him. The other Powers … the Fallen Angels may have been encouraged to wipe us out once and for all."

"Akeno…" Rias said.

"I know. There's standing peace, but there are likely to be extremists."

Rias knew how much Akeno hated the Fallen Angels, and how much that colored her view of them. But she knew Akeno was right. There were always some who were not content with peace. Had her brother been taken, the Underworld would have been greatly crippled and vulnerable to attack.

"So… all we can do is wait, is it?" Rias asked, downcast.

"Unfortunately so. We wait, and we hope."

*~B~*

The marble spire of the eleventh floor was easily the largest thing the players had yet seen in Aincrad, aside from the mountainous scenery of the second floor, Urbus. A giant, smooth pillar of white marble that extended high above the island of the Inner Area.

It was the strange shape of it that was odd. As it rose, the spire widened, slowly thickening until the top, where it became as wide as, the clearers now realized, an average boss room.

Forty-six clearers, the forty-five survivors of the entrance to Ragnarok Isle and newcomer Kiba, entered the spire to see a stark contrast with its exterior. The walls were pitch black and featureless. Flames were lit at even spaces at the edges of the floor, providing a very dim light. Seeing this, Kirito whistled. "Guess this floor has some sort of grudge against our vision. From the Burn condition, to the dim lighting here. Bet the next floor will be so brightly lit it's gonna be like stabbing our eyes."

Nobody commented as everybody found that too easy to believe.

In the center of the room was a black pillar that led up to the ceiling and beyond. A rough spiral staircase jutted out from it, which seemed to be the only way up.

The party stopped at the bottom of the stairs. About eighty-percent of them turned to Asuna.

Asuna sighed, and said. "Alright, let's move."

*~B~*

"Onii-sama!" Rias yelped.

They were currently inside the clubroom of the Occult Research Club. Rias had entered to find Koneko sleeping on a sofa and her brother, the Maou Lucifer, sitting at her seat, fiddling with a magazine of sorts.

"Oh, there you are, Rias," Sirzechs said, noticing her enter. "You know, humans are quite amazing in their creative ability. The stories they come up with, incredible."

"W-wait a minute," Rias said, trying to keep up with the sudden situation. "What are you doing here?"

"Hm? Oh yes. There's something that we just recently found out. About the SAO Incident."

All her surprise at her brother's sudden arrival vanished. Akeno, standing beside her, asked, "What?"

Sirzechs put down the magazine on the desk. "You know how the Devils who were trapped in the game had their bodies moved to locations separate from the humans?"

"Yes…?"

"Which means that normally other Devils don't particularly go near the ordinary humans."

"Onii-sama, what are you getting at?"

"By coincidence, one Devil entered one of the hospitals where they were keeping the human SAO players. And … we found out something. Something that happened to all the ten thousand players who entered, both human and non-human."

*~B~*

The black pillar in the middle of the Spire did not extend all the way to the ceiling of the top – in fact, there was no ceiling. It ended at the floor of the roof and, looking back down at it, the players could see that it was hollow. A faint red glow was visible right at the bottom.

Kiba did not like the look of that. "Perhaps we should stay as far from the pillar as possible."

"Agreed. Everyone, spread out towards the walls, tanks up front, forwards right behind, facing _that _at the north. Kirito-kun," Asuna said, in a tone that stated that she would not be argued with, "you and Kiba-kun stay at the back for now with the spear-users."

""Got it.""

"And she says she doesn't like leading," Kirito muttered, as they took their positions.

The cannon was massive, at least twenty feet in length, two-and-a-half feet wide, five feet high at the base and about seventeen feet high from the roof to the tip. The base appeared to be fixed, with no room for movement. Right at the back, under a lever was a foot-high empty space, which was obviously for the Magma Lantern.

The entire contraption shone golden, like a treasure out of Midas' vaults. It almost gave off a tangible aura of power and royalty. Kiba wondered if it was the game making them feel that way.

Asuna brought out the Magma Lantern and walked up to the cannon. Before placing it, she turned back to the others. "Everyone stay on your guard, we have no idea what's going to happen next."

With that, she placed the Lantern in the gap, and pulled down the lever. Almost instantly the Lantern broke. Not shattered, the casing of it suddenly exploded out, leaving the lava inside, which floated into a sphere. A second later, it went upwards into the cannon, which then began to hum.

Carved-out lines on the body of the cannon began to glow, seemingly filling up with magma. The glow began near the base and intensified progressively towards the mouth. In a matter of seconds the entirety of the lines glowed an intense yellow-orange and the cannon was now making a very audible noise. And then it fired.

An earth-splitting boom. The entire spire shook from the blast which rocketed up at an angle, ridiculously fast. Looking up in the mere seconds before it hit, Kiba realized where it was headed.

High on the cavern wall, a gigantic section of rock jutted out like a table standing on its narrow end. Below it was a ledge only slightly greater in length than the width of the giant rock, and it was colored a shade lighter than the rest of its surroundings. That was where the cannon-shot struck. With another ear-drum exploding boom it destroyed the ledge, and the humongous structure began to fall, breaking through a group of similarly light-colored rocks that overlapped on its upper edge.

It did not fall straight down. Somehow, as though there was a hinge where the ledge once was, the gigantic stone fell at an angle, the upper side turning downwards – straight towards the spire, and straight towards the cannon.

"Asuna! Get back!" Kirito yelled. Recognizing the danger, she immediately dashed back to where the others stood, and not a moment too soon.

The rock fell with improbable velocity, and landed like a meteor on top of the cannon. The resulting earthquake knocked half the players off their feet. Kiba had jumped up the moment it touched the ground, so he remained standing.

The section of the roof where the cannon once stood completely broke off from the spire and fell into the magma moat that lined the island. The splash of lava burned many players who were standing near it, but thanks to being in the Inner Area, they did not take any damage.

Once the dust had cleared, Kiba looked to where the rock had fallen.

The gigantic slab of rock now had one edge balancing on top of the Marble Spire, while what was once its lower edge remained where it was. The surface on top was like an extremely crude staircase. Which meant that that was their way up.

There was absolute silence as all this was digested. Finally Klein spoke up. "That's the way up, right? So, where's the boss?"

"I got it!" Kibaou shouted. "This floor was already unbelievably dangerous, right? And there was already that NPC that Beater fought, who apparently was on the level of a field boss. So, maybe, since this floor was so dangerous, there isn't a boss!"

"Are you hearing yourself, Cactus Head?" Kirito said. "There's gotta be a boss here. We should be careful where we–"

"Shut it, Beater. Listening to you is just gonna get more of us killed."

With that, before anyone else could say another word, he walked quickly towards the makeshift stairs.

As soon as he neared the hole under which the black pillar was, the spire shook, and everyone including him froze. A few seconds later it shook again. A dim glow began to emanate from the hole, brightening every second.

The spire was by then trembling constantly. At the edge of Kiba's hearing, there was a gradually increasing roar. One that increased at the same pace as the glow of what was inside the black pillar.

"Oh, shit!" Kirito yelled. "Move back! Move back now!"

A volcanic eruption occurred that instant.

*~B~*

Within seconds, the entire layout of the roof of the spire – Kiba didn't know why it was 'spire' instead of 'tower' – had changed drastically. Even the atmosphere had been altered. The smell of sulfur that he had gotten used to vanished. Also, it appeared that whatever mysterious light source had been illuminating the third floor had gone out, leaving only the glow of all the lava.

The BGM changed and Kiba knew before he looked that whatever was behind the massive smoke cloud was their final opponent for this floor.

Then a roar came from inside the cloud, blowing it away, leaving what had happened visible for everyone to see.

In the newly darkened cavern of Ragnarok Isle, the roof of the Marble Spire now glowed with a pool of lava. Smaller streams flowed away from that pool towards the edge of the spire, spilling over it. Here and there, like in the rivers below, floated large stepping-stone-like pieces of debris.

And in the center of that pool was the boss.

It was humanoid in build. The lower body was invisible beneath the magma, but the upper body was a mass of dark-brown, hard muscle. Large arms with powerful-looking fists, which unclenched every now and then to reveal the grey-brown nails.

Its head was reptilian, resembling a Tyrannosaurus but with a snout half the length. Fire flickered between semi-grinning jaws and its eyes glowed a furious yellow.

A name and a cursor appeared above its head. Tregedor the Volcano Lord.

Tregedor roared once again, and finally three HP bars appeared.

It was not nearly as complex in its monstrosity as the previous ten bosses. But there was something about its simplicity that made it seem so much more dangerous.

"What the hell is that?!" Klein yelled.

"No time to figure out what it is, we need to focus on how to kill it!" Kirito yelled back.

"Hey, Kibaou!" a third voice yelled.

Red damage marks covered Kibaou's body. He had jumped back just a second too late. Or maybe he was far too lucky, as he had the tiniest fraction of his HP remaining.

However, it seemed that he couldn't stand. It wasn't a Paralysis condition, Kiba realized, it was more the shock of suddenly being within reach of death's scythe.

"Leave him!" Asuna ordered. "You and you, move him to the back and give him a few potions. Tanks move to the front, and rotate in groups of three. One forward move with each group. Test out its attack patterns before we–"

"Asuna!" Kirito yelled.

"What?!"

"That's not gonna work! Look at the area around the boss!"

She looked and paled. The boss was right in the middle of the pool, and the only way to reach it was debris that floated in rough circles around it. Debris big enough for only one player to stand on each. Some of which were spaced far enough that only the forwards with good AGI could jump across.

"Tch! Alright, new plan. Forwards and spear-users–"

The boss battle had not finished dealing out its surprises.

Hands shot out of the lava at the edges of the pool, and monsters slowly climbed out. One by one, they got out and drew their weapons.

Ragnarok Isle high-level mob Lavalich. Legs made of thick red-gray stone, a torso of thin and somehow translucent rock that glowed with magma inside, skeletal arms of polished bone and a blazing skull of carbon-black bone for a head. Streams of lava flowed through the bone of the arms, and each had a stone sword which looked like debris of a broken building (*1).

"You've gotta be kidding me," Kirito groaned. "Those were only found in one tiny area of this floor. And now they're the boss's minions?"

"Kirito-kun, you, Striker-san and Klein-san get to the boss," Asuna began, resolution clear in her voice. "The other forwards, the half on the left go with seven tanks and fight through to the edge of the pool. Direct the boss's attention away while Kirito and the others attack. Four spear-users go with four more tanks and stop any other Lavalich from climbing out of the lava."

The Lavalich raised their weapons and uttered a grating cry, like sharp combs on a table's edge. Kiba unclasped the sheath from his back and held it in his left hand, right hand on the hilt, preparing for battle.

"The remaining forwards, seven of you take the chance to strike when the boss flinches from the three attackers' strikes!" Asuna continued, speaking hurriedly. "The two of you with Kibaou stay there and guard him. Kiba-kun and the others, take care of the Lavalichs!"

With that, she drew her rapier in one fluid motion and charged to meet the oncoming horde. Forty-five more players followed behind, Kirito and Kiba dashing forward. The boss roared and a battle cry replied:

"CHAAAAAAAARRGE!"

*~B~*

**I seriously need to reconsider my estimation skills. Final part my ass, the eleventh floor story is gonna last another chapter or two.**

**Apologies for the late update, I hopefully will update again tomorrow. Hopefully. The last free day I got, I spent outside and away from my PC all throughout. The next went the same. Friday I was busy again, so I managed to finish this Saturday. Sunday's a holiday, so I'm gonna work my ass off tomorrow as well – no wait, homework. Damn. And coaching. Double damn. And coaching homework. Damn squared.**

**Hopefully this chapter was fine, because I was more or less forcing out the first thousand words. Anyways, until next time. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	9. Chapter Eight: Floor 11 Part Five

**So here we are with another chapter in this story. Firstly, I'd like to say, CHANGE OF PLANS!.**

**Right. Back to normal voice levels. I was thinking that I was gonna rush through the Aincrad arc and get straight to Kuou Academy and onwards. Well, it took me way, way too long to realize the potential of the hundred-floor steel castle. So yeah, Aincrad will be here for a while.**

**Before this, I'd only planned on a meager few stories that I would have liked to cover in this arc. Just to introduce the other characters to make their actual appearances less sudden. Other than that, there was the Murder Case story of the fiftieth floor, the duel on the fifty-seventh, and, probably the one I was looking forward to writing the most, the coalition expedition against Laughing Coffin. That was one story that seriously needed a written version, if there isn't one already. Oh, and of course, the Yui story. Plus a little glimpse of Silica, Lizbeth and the Black Cats of the Full Moon. And of course, Argo.**

**On the DxD side, there were very few. Actually, I only had just about one. Issei's after-story: what happened after that tragedy on Urbus. Now, I've gotten another one, maybe more that I can't recall at the moment, but I do have one solid idea. Somewhat solid.**

**I looked at the SAO timeline a while back, and found out that it was way, **_**way**_** later than say, the eleventh floor, that Kirito got his Unique Skill. Yeah…**

**Now to answer question(s):**

**Guest (they should really have a system on Fanfiction that allows guest users to use a handle when they review): Nah, Issei doesn't meet her. That'd completely blow stuff out of proportion. I might be exaggerating, but, yeah, not gonna happen. Sorry.**

**On a last note, I finally read Volume 14. Bloody epic. Makes me regret day by day for reading the godsdarned summary. Who the hell thought it would have been a good idea to put that online?**

**And now, back to the mayhem. Oh wait, almost forgot! I had put a footnote marker (is that what they are called?) in the last chapter and forgot to put the footnotes in later. So I'll put it here. If you've forgotten where it was, it was about the description of the Lavalich's sword.**

**(*1): basically, picture Berserker's weapon from Fate/Stay Night. A scaled-down version, but in essence the same thing.**

**And **_**now **_**back to the mayhem.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or DxD any more than chicken soup is made of beef. Yeah, I know, that was a terrible one.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Eight: Floor 11 Part Five – The Battle of the Spire**

At this moment in time, various different mayhems were occurring in various places.

In the Underworld, there was widespread panic, as the list of Devils imprisoned in Aincrad had been leaked to the public.

On Mount Olympus, an argument between gods escalated, saturating the air with uncontrolled power.

On Asgard, a disagreement progressed as the head god tried to convince the dissenters to go along with his project on Yggdrasil.

In Kyoto, valuable cargo had finally arrived and was met with a battle.

On the fifth floor of Aincrad, two players struggled desperately against a raging river, trying to escape smashing into boulders.

And on the eleventh floor of Aincrad, Ragnarok Isle, nearly fifty players met the charge of their greatest battle yet.

For now, let us look only at the chaos that ensued on top of a pillar of white marble.

*~B~*

The people around Kiba were no longer mere players. Months of experience fighting for their lives had molded them into survivors. Yet even as survivors, they would have been eradicated and have never cleared the castle of steel any more than ten floors, if not for three swordsmen: Kirito, Kiba, and Klein.

However, that too may not have been possible without the guidance of their unofficial leader.

Kiba slashed at the neck of the Lavalich in front of him, decapitating it. The main body stumbled back, and resumed its attack leading to him having to parry the heavy stone sword. Taking his right hand off the sword, he twisted his body around and slid his sword off the stone weapon's side, and followed up with a diagonal slash that cut the body in half. The glow within the torso glimmered out, and head and body scattered into polygons.

_Truly, if not for Asuna-san's commands, we would have needed to use up just about all our potions._

At the start of the battle, Asuna was the one leading the charge against the horde of Lavalich. As the two sides clashed, she zipped through the mob, dodging every attack with an extraordinary finesse, and clearing them all, jumped and stabbed the boss in the throat – just in time to counter its fire-breath attack before it wreaked havoc among the players.

Despite not being a beta tester, she had recognized the signs. She had seen it begin to inhale, and had aimed at the critical spot right on time.

Having done so, Asuna had moved to the rear, leaving the boss to Kirito, Klein and Striker, and had joined Kiba in taking down the minion mobs.

And what followed next was an overwhelming upper hand over the Tregedor and the Lavalich.

As she and Kiba took down most of the Lavalich – it seemed to be a characteristic of this floor that all the monsters had high attack but low HP – she shouted orders that nobody questioned; orders that would turn out to be exactly what was necessary.

Tanks and spear-users lined the pool, stabbing any rising mobs straight through the skull. Any that managed to survive and rise up from the pool were barricaded by the massive shields. The big man, Agil and other axe-wielders, chopped them down where they stood, before they dealt any more than nearly-insignificant damage to the tanks. The forwards were divided into three groups, two that dealt with the Lavalich groups, and one that paired with the remaining tanks to attack the boss whenever it moved just close enough.

Whenever a player's HP hit the danger zone, Asuna knew. She calculated as she fought, noting the amount of damage the mobs were capable of dealing, where the critical points were and making calculated guesses on how much damage a player had suffered. She was constantly keeping an eye on nearly everyone else, making decisions on whom to withdraw when. Every decision thus far had been right on time, and not a single potion was ill-spent.

It was inhuman, her level of perception, and her ability to multitask. It should have been impossible for her to strategize while simultaneously fighting to survive her own skirmishes. Yet she was doing so with astonishing efficiency. When a player was in danger, she sent over just the right number of tanks and forwards to extricate him and allow him time to heal. At the same time, Kibaou and the two players tasked to guard him as he healed, were always inexplicably out of harm's way. When Kiba realized why, he was absolutely amazed.

_Every fight, every skirmish on the field, their positions are being manipulated and directed in order to keep the injured out of the line of fire. Asuna-san … you are absolutely amazing._

Tanks moved as ordered to just the right places to intercept incoming attacks. Forwards moved from battle to battle as necessary, switching between Lavalich from the right positions, finishing them off.

The only problem was Tregedor itself.

The gigantic humanoid smashed its meteoric fists at the three players designated to figure out its attack pattern. Kirito was speedy enough to dodge them by a hair, Klein used a hit-and-retreat tactic, but Striker had used up nearly a third of his potions. The devastating blows obliterated a quarter of HP upon impact, and on each hit, the force blew him back either into the pool or into the horde.

And even then, Asuna made sure that unnecessary damage was not experienced. If he fell towards the pool, she would direct the nearest tank to extend his shield to assist in a landing, while a second forward would take over, and unleash a sword skill on any rising skull. If Striker was about to land in the midst of a skirmish, the number of forwards in that area would double, erasing any remaining Lavalich, before catching him as he landed.

Kiba's impression of the player he'd saved some time back was that he was courageous, but the kind that was also foolish. He didn't have a clear idea when to fall back, and only understood attacking.

Asuna did not show any frustration at his repetitive and risky mistakes, and instead spent all her focus on keeping every last player alive.

Every third pattern repeat – three fists smashed here and there – the boss would unleash a fiery breath that spread in a massive arc, easily covering most of the area in front of it. Either Asuna would jump from raised shield to raised shield, intercepting it before it struck, or all the players would rush into two different groups, with tanks interspersed among them raising their shields above their heads or in front, taking the brunt of the attack. As it passed, potions were distributed immediately, and the assault began once more.

All this happened in front of the boss. On the other side of the field, one player's strength, synchronized with the happenings of the front, kept the boss occupied.

Kirito fought like a machine of destruction. Sword in hand, he leaped between stepping stones, jumping away from attacks made by Tregedor and at the same time, leaving long gashes on its back. As the boss flinched, he landed, took a position, and unleashed the strongest sword skill in his arsenal.

The Queen's Knightsword at his right side glowed a mix of gold and blue, and then slashed vertically upwards, knocking back the boss's flailing right arm, followed by a powerful downward slash that left a massive cut on the arm. Sword now at his left, he jumped forwards, swinging it horizontally, with his arm pulled back so that the tip made a thin, but critically deep cut on the back of the boss. Having twisted his body to the right, he stabbed his sword diagonally to the left, spinning back to the left, and scooping out a large chunk of virtual flesh that dissipated as it left the body. As he landed, not breaking his stance, on a stepping stone that surfaced from time to time behind the boss, he unleashed his final hit, an overwhelmingly fast and strong horizontal slash with a large range, leaving another massive cut that dug deep into Tregedor's back.

One-handed sword five-hit skill, Royal Annihilator.

The boss roared, and swung its left arm back to blow away the frozen Kirito – and was intercepted by Klein. The curved-sword wielding guild-leader of Fuurinkazan, one of the scant few guilds that had been made, struck the oncoming fist vertically up, diverting the attack. As Kirito recovered from the skill lag, Klein took the forward position, striking here and there and keeping the boss busy, while at the same time, forwards on the other side took the chance to heal.

This repeated three times. The first five or so pattern repeats, the players had played it safe, sizing up the threat levels. That was when Asuna began to execute her tactics, and the players began to have the upper hand.

Back to the present, Kiba was powering through the Lavalich with relative ease. They were being mowed down, not given a chance to deal significant damage. Agil threw his axe at the boss as Kirito jumped back to avoid a strike; Spinning Chopper, long-ranged axe skill. Klein had moved positions to the front side of the battlefield, and the other players at the back were having a relatively easy time fighting off the few Lavalich that came their way.

The one disadvantage of the minion mobs on this floor, were that they had very large numbers. That was the sole reason that more forwards could not focus on the boss itself.

Asuna moved through the remaining Lavalich at high speeds, her rapier flashing as it struck them at their critical points – the back of their necks – and soon, the only ones left were the ones trying to get out from the lava pool.

At one point, however, the Lavalich stopped spawning. Asuna noticed and immediately shouted, "Fall back! Regroup at a distance in front of the boss!"

Kiba heeded her instructions, like all others, and immediately moved away from the pool. As the remaining players gathered into a quickly thought-out formation, the noise died away. All that remained was the stationary boss and the tense, alert players.

"Seriously, what's going on?" Kirito said. "We're not attacking, the boss isn't attacking, how the heck are we at a stalemate?"

"Stay on guard, Kirito-kun," Asuna said. "We did just deplete half of its HP."

"But it hasn't reached the third bar yet. That's when the pattern changes, if at all," Klein said.

"Even so, we need to be careful. We don't know what other surprises this floor might come up with–"

At the very instant she said that, the pool exploded. Something flew into the air, and landed with a resounding noise in front.

It was a Lavalich, but it was different. The skull wasn't flaming, and instead it wore a horned helmet. The arms were now made of bones twice the thickness. The body was a shade darker, and along with a properly shaped stone sword, it also had a spiked stone shield. Its overall build was also a fraction larger. The name Lavalich Sentinel appeared in Kiba's vision.

This one made a grating shriek that sawed at Kiba's eardrums. "God, that's an awful noise," Kirito said.

"Asuna-san, I can take this one," Kiba said.

All eyes turned to him, as at the same time the boss also roared. "Are you out of your mind?" Asuna demanded. "There's only one, which means it could be ridiculously strong. It would be safer if three or four people attacked it together."

"We don't have time to discuss this, Asuna-san," Kiba replied, sheathing his sword and moving into a position. "We can win this. If I deal with the Sentinel, the rest of you can make short work of the boss."

"Kiba-kun, just wait one min–"

"I have to show off sometimes too, don't I?" Kiba said, smiling. Without waiting for a response, he made his move.

The weapon he got from the NPC Thanron was, by classification, just any other one-handed sword. What set it apart, however, were four things.

The first was its distinctive ability to be trained. It couldn't be enhanced like an ordinary weapon, but instead it could be trained, leveled up like a player could.

The second was its sheath, which also materialized when the sword was equipped. The sheath was irregular because it couldn't be attached to a belt or the back or anywhere. This means that unless the user wanted to drop it he had to keep his left hand occupied at all times. Kiba had dropped it every now and then in the battle, but otherwise he used it as a makeshift shield – for which, it turns out, it was also designed, having a high durability.

The Lavalich Sentinel put its right foot back, and bringing its shield up to just below its neck, it drew the sword back, preparing to charge. Kiba, holding the sheathed sword in both hands, had slowly brought it to his left side, pointing backwards as if he was preparing to slash at something in front of him.

_I know I shouldn't still want to attack things myself and still try to train while I am trapped here…_

The sheath began to glow a deep red, and tiny sparks shot out of the opening at the hilt.

_But I can't always choose the easy fights either. I need to fight on my own anyway. I need to leave this world having become stronger than I was before!_

The Sentinel began to charge and Kiba swung his sword clockwise with tremendous speed.

With a muffled boom, the sheath flew at high speed towards the Sentinel and slammed into its shield, blasting it off its feet and throwing it back four feet.

The third unique aspect of the sword was its unique sword skills. A set of skills performable only by that weapon alone.

Iron Missile was one such skill: the sheath fired with high speed, which would take out quite a lot of monsters at close range.

The cost of this special set of skills, however, was that instead of causing a lag after using them, it took away 10% of the user's HP. It would not normally sound like much, but in a death game like SAO, it was a huge amount.

Kiba's HP once again hit the yellow zone, but this time he did not stop to heal. "Get the boss!" he shouted, and dashed towards the Sentinel.

To his surprise, the Sentinel was already standing and prepared to strike. _Damn Kayaba. Using an entire floor of monsters with low recovery and HP, just to ambush us at the end with something the exact opposite._

There was no time to change his decision any more. The Lavalich Sentinel was already in his range – and consequently, he in its range – and had raised its sword, poised to attack. The next second Kiba raised his own sword to meet the falling blow.

A resounding clang echoed, and the two blades met, Kiba's blade flat-first and the Sentinel's with the edge, striking the edge of Kiba's own blade. At such a position, the Sentinel's stone sword should have slid off of Kiba's, possibly chopping his arm off.

However… Somehow the blade caught. The Sentinel croaked gratingly, still pushing down, and Kiba smiled.

The fourth unique aspect of the sword was its shape. Crooked Ruin, a sword with a blade bent like a lightning bolt. The blade was black, edged with a dark red, and it angled sharply seven times along its length as it gradually thinned towards the tip, and was shaped so that it could make the opponent's weapon catch, leading to an advantage.

Kiba switched to a right-handed back-hand grip, and moved forward, left shoulder first. The blade angled back, and the Sentinel's sword slid off, the force of its push making it stumble forward. In the same instant, Kiba slashed counterclockwise, cutting through the side of the neck, and the Sentinel spun away from him. The crooked tip had caught on the bone of the spine and inflicted critical damage.

Divert Slash was another exclusive skill: catching the opponent's blade, manipulating it to make the opponent stumble and striking them with a back-hand slash.

Kiba eyed his HP. 38%. He moved back from the Sentinel, and took out a potion, while looking at its HP. It was only half depleted, even with the critical hit.

_Damn. That was my last potion._

Kiba had not stocked up on too many potions. To be most accurate, he had only kept three, deciding he would not need any more. All of them healed a maximum of 50% of his HP. And they were all heal-over-time potions.

The Sentinel was getting ready to attack again. Kiba noticed the sheath of his sword lying near his feet, and picked it up with his left hand. The next strike would be the finisher. Iron Missile had high power, and if dealt from close range at a critical point, it would certainly kill even the Sentinel.

But first, he needed an opening. And he also noticed immediately that after hitting the yellow zone, it had gotten faster. It had also thrown away its shield. As Kiba got back into position, it charged, making a horizontal slash.

Divert Slash would not work in this case. Kiba had no choice but to try and block it.

The instant he felt the impact, he realized that blocking was a bad idea.

Without Divert Slash, Kiba would have to rely on his END, his in-game defense, if he wanted to block. And he remembered a bit too late that he had given up on training that stat.

The massive force blew Kiba away, straight at the walls of the Spire. He hit it with a resounding thud, and watched his HP drop to a very small red, still in the process of healing.

One did not feel pain on Aincrad, but forces and impacts could definitely be felt. To be dealt a strong blow and feeling only the force and not the pain was a somewhat odd experience.

Needless to say, the blow had left Kiba feeling as though he was winded. His real body, of course, had suffered no such thing, but in the virtual Aincrad, he was breathing hard.

Watching the Sentinel prepare for another attack, he hurriedly got to his feet. He glanced behind him and saw the long, long drop down into the lava river – which, Kiba realized, might really damage this time since it could count as outside the Inner Area during a boss battle – and understood how close he had come to dying himself.

However, he also got an idea. His HP had stopped healing at around 18%, which stated the terrifying level of damage the attack had dealt. He could not afford to use another one of Crooked Ruin's exclusive skills. Other skills weren't strong enough, since he had not trained them, and they also had lag which would be fatal in the current situation.

There might, however, be a way to make the Sentinel kill itself.

Not moving away from the edge of the spire, he slammed the hilt of his sword into the broken walls. Luckily, and somewhat to his expectations, they were no longer Immortal Objects. This meant they could be broken. Once again, Kiba was astonished by the lethality of the eleventh floor. However, he had no time to ponder that. He slammed his sword continuously into the wall, while keeping his eyes on the Sentinel. Too early, it charged.

Time slowed. The Sentinel was about fifteen inches away from him. At the completely last instant Kiba jumped to the left and spun, slamming the sheath into the Lavalich Sentinel's back. It crashed through the weakened, crumbling walls and fell, shrieking in its grated voice, into the lava pool below.

Kiba almost didn't see the blue light that occurred as it shattered upon smashing into a piece of debris on the river. Right afterwards, a window opened in his vision. LEVEL UP!, it proclaimed. His base HP increased, and his stats gained a few points.

The sounds of battling and the roaring of Tregedor had persisted throughout Kiba's fight. He closed the window, and began to turn back to the battle.

And at that moment, it happened.

"Kirito-kun!"

*~B~*

**I love cliffhangers, don't you?**

**Yeah. One more part of this long Kiba arc. I think. But there's no chance of it going above two.**

**This is turning out to be a ridiculously busy year for me. Obviously, with my IGCSEs about 10months away, it was going to be busy anyway. Other crap happens every now and then, so yeah, I was lucky I got to update this in just a week.**

**So which story will I do after this? Well, I'm thinking, go in chronological order. I have the timeline downloaded for help, and I'm going to use it as much as I can.**

**And going by that, after this story, we shall move back in time. Not saying any more than that.**

**By the way, that five-hit sword skill of Kirito's? I don't know how many of you noticed, probably very, very, few, but that was the Swordfighter3/SwordfighterX card from Megaman Star Force 3. Yeah.**

**That's that for this time. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	10. Chapter Nine: Floor 11 Part Six

**MY INTERNET'S BACK TO NORMAL YES!**

**And now I'm hoping I didn't just jinx it.**

**Right. Anything I need to clear up?**

**Oh yeah. Firstly, of course, is Tactician Asuna. That side of hers was so, **_**so **_**downplayed in both anime and novels (she didn't become sub-leader just to strength and looks) so I decided to show that side, and maybe make it better.**

**Secondly, to Sajuuk: If by trapped monster you mean a trapped nonhuman being, then yeah. As for whom it is, I'm still debating whether or not I should reveal that this early.**

**Thirdly, I'm finally sure precisely how I want Aincrad arc to go. I'm also damn sure this WILL be the last chapter of the Floor 11 arc. Since I'm typing this out over a number of days, at the moment I don't know whether this will be up in a week, so I shall apologize now in case it takes two weeks, given that this chapter may or may not be twice the normal 4k length.**

**Lastly, I will give out a little trailer-ish thing for the next arc. Alright, it's just gonna be the title of the next arc, which I shall state at the bottom of this chapter.**

**Well this was shorter than usual. On to the story then.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I own DxD and SAO as much as Present!Ise owns a harem. And unlike him, my ownership of DxD and SAO will not grow likelier. Ever.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Nine: Floor 11 Part Six – The Duel on the Spire**

The sounds of battling and the roaring of Tregedor had persisted throughout Kiba's fight. He closed the window, and began to turn back to the battle.

And at that moment, it happened.

"Kirito-kun!"

Kiba looked over instantly towards the sound of that voice, and following Asuna's line of sight he saw – Tregedor raising his fist out of one part of the pool.

*~B~*

"We found out something. Something that happened to all the ten thousand players who entered, both human and non-human."

"Onii-sama, could you please answer directly?" Rias said. "If it's a way to get my servant and all others out then I need to know right now."

"Unfortunately, it's not that," Sirzechs said. "Actually, it would be more accurate to say some_things_ happened."

"Onii-sama…"

Sirzechs sighed. "The first thing we noticed was that their life-force was being gradually drained."

That declaration seemed to stop time for Rias. "W-wait… you mean they're slowly dying? That no matter what they do, they're all still going to die?"

"No. It's like this: you know how every being draws their energy for doing things from their life-force correct? Demonic power, magic and the like?"

"Yes, but–"

"And provided you don't use too much at a go, it can heal back to normal, so your lifespan isn't shortened."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Basically, that device is doing more than keeping them trapped. It is slowly absorbing their life-force energy, just enough for it to not shorten their lifespans, and slowly enough so that they have time to recover."

"But, why?" Akeno asked. "Have you figured out why? And where is all that energy going?"

"It simply vanished. Ajuka thinks it's all going into the Dimensional Gap, but we don't know for sure."

After saying this, Sirzechs stopped for a while. "It's unbelievable, really," he remarked. "A simple game is causing this much chaos everywhere. Asgard, Olympus, and others are giving the Devil higher-ups a lot of misery over this. Ajuka can't move at all. The higher-ups have shut down every one of his laboratories except one. He isn't even allowed to try and help fix this mess. And when the fact about the hundred other prisoners got leaked today, the situation has only gotten worse."

Rias felt nothing but absolute hatred and anger towards the one single person who had caused all this. "Onii-sama," she said, "none of this is helping us free Yuuto and the other prisoners."

Sirzechs grimaced. "That's true. I wish it was otherwise, but Kayaba Akihiko has covered all possible loopholes regarding that."

"Sirzechs-sama," Akeno spoke up, "you said that there was more than one thing that happened. What are the others?"

"The other effect is something which we still don't know. That device, the NerveGear, is changing all the players somehow."

"What do you mean? Are they all being turned into Devils?" Rias asked.

"No, that's not it. Their base being is staying the same, but, it seems as though all of them are getting something added to that. We don't know what it is, except for the fact that we have no idea what it could be."

It was then that the Maou suddenly stopped. "Oh yes, I just remembered why I came here. Rias," he said.

She looked up, surprised to see the light pleased glint in his eyes. "What is it?"

"We may not have found a way to get Yuuto-kun out of the game," he said, a small smile slowly forming, "but we have found a way to send him a message."

*~B~*

Kiba didn't wait for Asuna to say anything before launching his attack. Even I, a beta-tester, was astonished at the ridiculous Sword Skill that he executed, and amazed by its immense power.

I recalled Thanron, who had done almost the same thing during our battle with him. That time, however, he was moving too fast for me to see the sword hidden within the sheath. This time, however, I saw the lightning-bolt shaped black blade, and I felt a pang of envy.

I really should've kicked him out of that cavern and gotten that sword myself.

I didn't have time to entertain those thoughts. Kiba yelled at us to attack the boss and went off on his own towards the Lavalich Sentinel, and I could see that Asuna also realized that she didn't have the time to waste trying to convince him otherwise.

"Tanks move to the front, spear-users line up behind them!" Asuna directed, and all players followed her commands. "Kirito-kun, you and three others circle the boss. You take the initiative, Klein-san as your backup. Agil-san, head to the front as well, along with Striker-san. The others, form up around the pool and attack when the boss's arms get near!"

_Time to end it, _I thought.

I dashed ahead of all the others and jumped right at the boss.

Tregedor the Volcano Lord shared the common characteristic of most, if not all monsters of Ragnarok Isle: Ridiculously high attack power, and low HP and defense to compensate for it. As a result, this was turning out to be one of our shortest battles yet.

I didn't want to risk any more time here, so I decided to go all out.

Without hesitating, the instant I neared the boss, I activated Vertical Square. Four powerful slashes cut away at the massive humanoid, and the HP reached the final bar. And only then did I realize something I should have realized earlier.

_When a boss reaches its final HP bar, its attack pattern changes, occasionally beginning with a powerful wide-area attack._

Tregedor roared, and the fist that flew at me this time was much faster.

I was frozen and I couldn't dodge. The instant I landed on a piece of debris after completing the Sword Skill, it smashed down at me mercilessly.

*~B~*

Asuna could not believe what had just happened.

Kirito had launched the first hit on Tregedor, bringing it down to the final HP bar, and then the boss had battered him straight into the pool. At that moment, his name also disappeared from her party list.

Every player was stock-still, disbelieving. Of all the people gathered here, no one seemed to believe that it would be their undoubtedly strongest player who had fallen first.

Asuna heard running steps, and realized that Kiba was coming over to them. Tregedor, however, was not going to give them time to regroup.

The giant boss thrust a hand into the pool and lifted up a glowing mass of lava. Pulling its arm back it threw it directly upwards.

_Move!_ A part of Asuna screamed at her, as she watched the lava fly upwards with impossible speed, blasting away part of the cavern ceiling.

Coming to her senses, Asuna quickly came to realize what was going to happen. "Tanks, shields upwards! Forwards and spear-users, keep your eyes above and get ready to evade!"

The broken rocks fell like rain upon the players.

Forty-five players shouted and moved rapidly, dodging the falling meteors. Tanks buckled under the impact and fell to their knees. Players with stronger offensive power tried to strike the falling boulders away. Some succeeded, others were struck.

There was a scream, followed by another. Asuna glanced around as she dodged another boulder – and saw two avatars shatter under fallen rocks.

_No, no, no!_

She heard a yell from near the boss, and saw Striker running towards the boss, weaving through the rocks and suffering glancing blows from them.

"Get away, you idiot!" she screamed.

Striker didn't hear her, and if he did, decided against it. "Eat this, you bastard!" he yelled, sword held above his head as he tried to activate Avalanche, two-handed Sword Skill.

Tregedor roared, and swung an arm at a rapid speed, blowing Striker clear off the tower. His screams faded as he fell further down.

Tregedor was not done. As the last of the rocks fell, the boss inhaled.

Asuna threw away all thoughts of safety. _Not this time!_

Weaving aside from a final boulder, she _moved._

Time slowed, and her vision seemed to tunnel. She saw Tregedor about to release its breath and in an instant, was there in front of it.

*~B~*

In a secluded hospital, a certain room was momentarily lit in blue flickering light.

*~B~*

The rapier drew back and shone bright yellow, and to Kiba's eyes, the blade disappeared.

He hadn't seen Asuna move. One second she was dodging a rock, the next second she was right at the neck of the boss.

Yellow waves spread from the area around Tregedor's neck, one upwards and one downwards. An instant _before _each, the boss's HP dropped. It dropped once more sharply before a yellow ray pierced through its neck, and only then did Asuna's rapier reappear, embedded in Tregedor's throat.

The boss roared in pain and brought its hands to its neck as Asuna jumped back, unarmed. The HP bar pulsed red momentarily at intervals, indicating a Damage over Time effect.

"Asuna-san!" Kiba called out. "Get behind the others, we'll deal with the rest!"

"I can't do that!" she yelled back stubbornly. "I have to stay on the front as well–"

"You're unarmed!" Klein yelled. "Stay back and let us handle this! You can direct us from the back. Without your sword, you'll die if you go too close to the boss!"

Asuna bit her lip and moved back, as Klein ran to the edge of the pool.

His eyes were teary, and he had a furious expression on him. Kiba knew why. Kirito's HP bar and name had vanished from the corner of his vision where all the party members were listed. Kiba still could not believe that one of the two players possibly stronger than him were the first to go down.

"Dammit, Kirito," Klein said, his sword shaking, "You just had to go and do that, didn't you?"

Tregedor roared and, giving up on dislodging the rapier, focused on Klein instead. Klein moved his left leg back and brought the curved-sword to his left.

Kiba was struck by a sense of familiarity. _I've seen that position before. I know I have._

Tregedor roared and brought its fist down again, flames flickering between its teeth. Klein jumped just in time, landed on its arm, and ran straight up it.

"Hey, snake-head!" Klein shouted at the boss, jumping right in front of its face.

"Don't look down on me!"

The blade glinted and slashed diagonally at a high speed, leaving a gash on its snout. Kiba and Asuna were probably the only ones who saw what happened next.

At the peak of the slash, Klein let go of the sword, and reversed his grip. The point of the sword cut straight through Tregedor's eye, and he came back to his starting position.

Kiba realized then why the initial motion was familiar. In fact, he had seen it performed many, many times.

_A sword in its sheath, drawn out, struck with, and returned to the sheath in the same motion. _Klein had used a very different version of it, but the idea was no doubt the same.

_Iai, _Kiba realized, astonished. _That was a variation of Iai._

He also realized that Klein had not used any Sword Skill.

Landing onto a piece of debris in front of the boss, Klein immediately jumped away. Tregedor, having received a critical hit to the eye, had yellow HP remaining.

"Two more attacks!" Asuna shouted from the rear. "Two more Sword Skills will finish it off!"

Kiba eyed his HP. 18%. He could use his last special skill and possibly finish off the boss.

However, Tregedor once again took a breath. Ignoring the rapier, which continued to exert its DoT effect, it glared down at the players with its one remaining eye. "Move to the sides!" Asuna yelled, and Tregedor blew fire once more.

This time, however, it was different.

Unlike the wide wave of fire from before, this was a concentrated beam, a dark-orange flamethrower that incinerated the center column. Three players were caught in its path, and were killed almost instantly. Tanks near the blast had their shields lose their durability and shatter. Kiba, who had just barely avoided the flame, noticed cracks appearing in his armor.

*~B~*

"What's happening?" Rias cried.

"The connection is going shaky!" an assistant Devil said. "We might not be able to send the message at this rate! Rias-sama, please hurry!"

*~B~*

The annihilating fire dissipated and Tregedor roared again. Kiba saw his HP changed from 18% to 16%. _Crap, this is getting too close._

"Get ready, it's happening again!" Agil shouted from the front, raising his axe and preparing to throw it.

"No. I won't let you!" Asuna yelled and ignoring her safety, dashed forward, preparing to lunge for her rapier.

It was nowhere near the speed of before. Kiba knew it was suicide.

Right then, the impossible happened. Something appeared at the edge of his vision, and he saw Klein, Asuna and Agil's eyes widen at the same time.

There was a splash of lava from behind the boss. And a certain black-clothed swordsman jumped out, over its head, and dealt a spinning slash that blinded its other eye.

"Kirito-kun?!" Asuna cried, immensely surprised.

Kiba noticed the boss flinch, bringing its arms up to its face, and knew this was his only chance.

He ran, not as fast as he had ever gone, but much harder than he had ever ran. Reaching the boss, he threw the sheath to the side and jumped, landing on the boss's front and pushing off upward and taking another jump off its arm, landing on the head. Holding Crooked Ruin in both hands, he drew it back and the blade began to spin. A red-black light, reminiscent of his master's power of destruction, swirled around it, flecked with orange sparks.

Third and final special skill of Crooked Ruin, Jagged Drill. A high power close range attack whose usage cost was 15% of the user's HP.

The blade spun, the light spinning in a tornado, and Kiba thrust it straight into Tregedor's skull.

There was no roar, no flailing of anguish. The HP bar dropped straight to zero, and the boss simply stopped moving, and began to fall forward as the lava in the pool slowly solidified around it. Kiba leaped away just in time and landed, stumbling, on the soft rock that once made up the pool. Tregedor fell with a crash, and then shattered into polygons.

Kiba glanced at his HP. 1%. All the exhaustion finally got to him as he fell onto the ground and blacked out.

*~B~*

Inside a hidden facility, Rias Gremory let out a sigh of relief. In the last fifteen seconds, her servant's heartbeat had skyrocketed and the connection they had made for sending a message had shook violently. Now, however, his pulse was slowing back down to normal.

"Is he alright?" she asked.

"He was probably in a tough battle just about know, and seeing as he's still alive and calming down, I'm guessing he won," Sirzechs said. Rias smiled. "The connection looks fine too. What do you think, Ajuka?" Sirzechs continued, speaking to the communication-circle near him.

[It seems fine to me, though I can't really tell from all the way here. My apologies, Sirzechs]

"Don't worry about it, you can't help it. Well, Rias," Sirzechs said, "you can relax now. Take your time with the message. It might turn out to be one-time-only, but we can wait till you know what you want to say."

"Understood. Thank you Onii-sama, and Ajuka-sama."

[Oh, no need to thank me, princess. I'm happy enough to have been able to do something to help]

*~B~*

Kiba woke to find Asuna and Kirito looking at him. "What the hell was that last move?" were the first words out of Kirito's mouth.

Asuna gave an exasperated sigh, and said, "Really? That's the first thing you ask him?"

Kiba groaned, and sat up. "How long was I out?" he asked.

"About half a minute," Kirito said. "You also got the Last Attack bonus of the boss."

"Now is not the time, Kirito-kun," Asuna said.

Kiba got up, and noticed all the other players looking at him. "Oh yeah," Kirito said, "I forgot to mention that you became famous over-blackout."

"Hey, Kiritard!" Klein said, before crushing Kirito in a bear-hug. "Don't go and scare us like that!"

Asuna, too, turned towards him. "Klein-san, I'd like to speak to Kirito-kun."

"Hm? Ah, okay," he said, moving away. Kirito turned to face Asuna, who met his gaze with an impassive stare. She took a breath.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING YOU RECKLESS IDIOT?!"

"Wait, you actually are mad?!"

Kirito tried to move away, but Asuna grabbed his collar. "Explain. Now," she said, teeth gritted.

"W-well, you see, once the boss turned its back I jumped out, used its back as a stepping stone and went over its head before I attacked it–"

"Kirito-kun," Asuna said cheerfully, "would that happen to be what I just asked you about?"

"N-no."

"Okay then. Now answer my question."

"Uh, well, you know how you told us yesterday to prepare for the boss battle? I kinda had a hunch so I went down to the nearest lava river to uh, … ex-experiment."

It should not have been possible in a place like Ragnarok Isle, but Kiba could've sworn he felt the temperature drop by about twenty degrees.

"Experiment…?" Asuna asked quietly.

"H-hey, I didn't do anything too dangerous! I just dipped my arm into the river and figured out the rate at which my HP dropped. After that … you know the apothecary on the 7th floor?"

She nodded silently.

"I tried to make potions there with the same healing rate to counter the effects of the lava. It wasn't easy, and took me a lot of hunting to find the ingredients but I finally managed to make a whole batch. I wasn't intending to use it for that purpose actually, it just came to me the minute I went under so, that's alright isn't it?" Kirito said, laughing nervously.

"… What about your name disappearing from the party list?"

"Oh, that. Well, I figured that since the pool was supposed to be specifically for killing anyone unwary of it and that it was pretty deep, it sort of counted as outside the boss room area. Sort of, I'm taking a wild guess here. Also, I don't think the boss was programmed to attack players within the lava, so I was safe there as long as I kept chugging down potions. Turns out I miscalculated just a bit and had to use my entire batch to stay alive, but hey, I made it out, right?"

"Yes. Yes you did," Asuna replied, while opening her menu. Kirito's confusion mirrored Kiba's own as Asuna selected an option. A small window appeared in front of Kirito.

"Eh? Asuna, isn't this–"

She grabbed his wrist and made him touch the ACCEPT button. A confirmation beep rang out and Kirito turned a questioning gaze to her –

And got slugged in the face by Asuna's fist. He fell down onto the ground with a loud thud and a message appeared over their heads: EARLY ATTACK, MATCH FORFEITED.

"Ow," Kirito said, out of reflex.

"You're lucky that didn't actually hurt," Asuna said icily.

_I'll remember not to ever make her angry, _Kiba noted mentally.

"Anyways, Kirito," Klein spoke up, smirking, "me and the others will go on and open up the next floor. And I guess that Kansai idiot has something to thank you for now, doesn't he?" he continued, turning to look at the player who was, for the entire duration of the battle, out of the danger area. Kibaou clicked his tongue and looked away.

"Um, excuse me, Asuna-sama?" a voice spoke up.

All eyes turned to a frail-looking tank, who did not seem to fit in his armor. He faltered, and then spoke up, "I was thinking, we just cleared a pretty dangerous floor, so, uh, is it okay if we take the next couple of days easy?"

" … Alright. Everyone take a couple of days off, and do whatever you feel like, on one condition: don't be an idiot like him over there and go die, got that?"

"Yes," almost all players chorused.

"Phew, guess I can finally go and look up that Martial Arts skill that dude on the ninth floor talked about." "Martial Arts skill?" "Yeah, apparently it's somewhere near the edges of Urbus." "Great! Let's go grab that skill."

A conversation was carried out among players near the back, and Kiba saw Kirito frown upon hearing them. Kirito then opened his window and began typing out a message to someone.

Thirty-seven players walked up the makeshift staircase formed by the fallen rock, while Kiba, Kirito and Asuna stayed behind. Some things were nagging Kiba and he decided to ask the two of them.

"Asuna-san," he began, "when I blacked out my HP was at the utmost low. How is it," Kiba said, eyeing his full HP bar, "that it's back to maximum in such a short time?"

"Hm? Oh, I used a Heal Crystal on you."

"Wait, what?" Kirito said, having finished typing out and sending the message. "You had a heal crystal? Since when? And they're like, immensely rare."

"_I _didn't waste my day of preparation on stupidity."

Kirito grimaced at that. "Yeah, you're never letting this one go."

"One more thing," Kiba said, "that thing you sent to Kirito-kun, what was that?"

"That? Oh, you don't know about the Dueling system, do you?" Kirito said.

"Dueling system?"

"Normally, if you attack a player, your green cursor changes to orange, indicating that you were a criminal. However, if you want to test your skills against a player, you can challenge them to a duel."

Kiba felt that this may have been what he needed right now. "This duel, does it only end when the other player's HP hits zero? And does the player die in that case?"

"Well, there're three types of duels. First Strike, which depends on who lands the first clean hit; Half HP Depletion, which ends when one player's HP hits the yellow zone, or Full HP Depletion, which ends when one player hits zero, and I guess still dies. Nobody wants to bet on the possibility that they won't and as a result, no one goes with the third type. Even the second type can be risky if one player grossly overpowers the other – you don't stop getting damage once your HP hits half, and the duel only ends when the damage infliction is complete. It's entirely likely that a player can suffer a strong enough hit to die in even this kind of duel. Of course, that risk exists in First Strike mode too, but a much smaller risk."

Kiba knew instantly that yes, this was what he needed. He turned to Kirito with a serious expression, and said, "Then, Kirito-kun, might I challenge you to a First Strike Duel?"

Asuna stopped. "Eh? Hey, what are you saying? You just finished a boss battle, you've got to be exhausted–"

"Asuna, wait," Kirito interrupted, meeting Kiba's gaze. "I think he really wants to do this."

"Wait, why though?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Kiba said with a smile. "But perhaps I just want to see which one of us is stronger."

"Hm. Alright, I'll do it. Right here then?"

"Yes. Also, can I request a spar without the use of any Sword Skills?"

Kirito laughed. "You don't make it easy, do you? Alright, send the request."

Kiba nodded, and opened his window. Finding the Duel option, he selected Challenge, and chose Kirito's cursor through the window in front of him. A window opened in front of Kirito, and he chose the ACCEPT button, and then selected First Strike from the options that came up. Asuna moved to the side, shaking her head and muttering "Boys…" and Kirito and Kiba moved backwards, creating some distance.

The countdown at the top of Kiba's vision paced towards zero as he and Kirito took up their respective positions. Kirito put his left leg forward about half a body length and held the sword at his right, tip nearly touching the ground. Kiba moved his left leg back and held his sword upwards in front of him at a slight angle.

_From what I surmised, First Strike rules state that the first one to land a clean hit wins. Kirito-kun, that stance leaves him open on his left._

The timer counted down the seconds as both Kiba and Kirito tensed themselves.

3…

2…

1…

START!

Kirito charged, a hurricane of black, as he drew the sword back, preparing to thrust it forward. Kiba parried the blow to his left, then swung Crooked Ruin up towards Kirito's neck.

_With an attack like this, he'll have to move back to dodge it. That'll leave him completely open, and a single stab will do the trick._

However … Kirito betrayed his expectations. Making no move to dodge it, he swung the sword that was at Kiba's side inwards towards his gut, forcing Kiba to hurriedly draw his sword back, and barely block the strike with the pommel. Taking his chance, Kirito jumped back immediately.

Kiba, for one, was astounded. It was a completely unorthodox move Kirito had pulled. Instead of trying to dodge the blow, he decided to trust in his own striking speed to win. He had no way of knowing who was the faster of the two, so Kiba couldn't figure out why he had done such a risky move.

_No, _he realized, _he knew that if he dodged, it would've been a certain loss for him, and so he decided to gamble on the chance that he could get in a hit first. He wasn't being confident of his own speed, he was being analytical of mine!_

The two of them circled, keeping their distance, Kirito this time in a defensive stance. Kiba took the initiative and struck at high speed.

_A feint towards his left, and then quickly pull away and jab at his right._

Seeing the oncoming strike to his left, Kirito moved his sword – and ignoring the feint, blocked the attack from the right. Kiba was momentarily stunned, and Kirito did not let that chance fly by, violently clanging the Queen's Knightsword off of Crooked Ruin and aimed for Kiba's chest. Kiba spun clockwise on a dime, the downward slanting slash grazing off his cheek, cutting away a tiny fragment of his HP, and made a spinning slash towards Kirito in the same motion.

Almost as if he bounced the sword off the air, Kirito sharply redirected his blade to meet Kiba's – and the blade caught on the angular black edge.

The two of them remained at a steady impasse. "Marvelous reaction speed, Kirito-kun," Kiba said, grinning. "Is this what gaming helps you attain?"

"Things you control using a keyboard and things you use your own hands for are different. Though it probably is due to me lifelessly spending my years on a PC," he replied, smirking.

There was a clang as Kirito moved his sword back a fraction and then slammed it onto Crooked Ruin, and the two of them jumped back. This time, they both attacked at the same time.

An overhead diagonal slash down to the left was blocked by a timed horizontal slash from Kirito. Kiba took a step back, and then forward, thrusting out the tip. Kirito switched the sword to his left hand and spun anticlockwise, parrying Kiba's strike and at the same time veering in towards his left. Kiba used the momentum of Kirito's counter to spin clockwise himself, meeting Kirito's spinning slash with a spinning slash of his own. Once again Kirito's blade caught, but this time he was ready. He slid the blade to the side intentionally, falling into the path of Crooked Ruin, taking Kiba by surprise once again – and then ducked right below the sword, attacking Kiba with a backhand blow. Once again, Kiba had to guard with the pommel. A moment after the impact they both took their distance once again.

The two of them met each other's steady gazes, and they both took an attacking stance. Kiba knew that this would be the last attack.

They counted down the seconds mentally, each looking for a slight opening in the other. Kiba noticed Kirito twitch slightly and jumped forward, swinging his sword in a wide arc from the left. Kirito drew his sword back and struck forward.

The two strikes did not meet. Kiba felt his blade cut cleanly at Kirito's chest while he felt an impact upon his gut at the same time. Both of them stood still, not moving an inch from their positions. A window opened above their heads and they both glanced up.

DRAW!

Kiba relaxed and moved his sword back as Kirito did the same. "Whew, that was tough," Kirito said, grinning. "You've got a lot more than you show, don't you?"

"I could say the same for you, Kirito-kun," Kiba smiled back.

"Ahem," Asuna broke in. "Now that you two are done, can we move to the next floor? I don't want to stay here any longer: that annoying smell of sulfur is coming back."

Kirito chuckled. "Always the princess, aren't you?"

"Shut up."

Kiba glanced around, and found his sheath. As he picked it up and sheathed his sword, Asuna asked him, "Kiba-kun? Are you going to be coming with us, or do you wish to go by yourself?"

Kiba considered it for a while. It did not take him long to find an answer.

"I'll tag along with you two."

*~B~*

Somewhere on Aincrad, one person looked at a screen in the air. He looked at the duel between a black-clothed swordsman and a red-armored swordsman with interest and mild surprise in his eyes.

"Interesting," he muttered. "Very interesting."

He brought up another window and dabbled in something.

"Perhaps I was too hasty in deciding to give him _that _now."

He finished modifying something, and clicked confirm. A message box appeared in front of the window.

REACTION TIME MEASUREMENT DATE SHIFTED TO JANUARY 2024. DUAL BLADES SKILL GRANT DATE SHIFTED TO JANUARY 2024.

"After all," he said, turning to another window, showing two players, a male and a female sitting at the bank of a raging river, "we already have one Unique Skill running around. Really, I didn't expect you to give that away so early in the game. Perhaps I really should have made it a part of the NPC's programming."

*~B~*

I separated from Asuna and Kiba once we reached the Inner Area, and went off to train on my own. Can't help the fact that I'm a training nut, can I?

Right before I left the Area, though, I received a message. "Took you long enough," I muttered, opening it.

[Talk about timing, Kii-bou. Sending a message right when I'm trying to survive being smashed against boulders by a river. And yeah, I got him out, and he's almost a different person.]

I typed out a reply: [Don't ever come to the eleventh floor, by the way, or you're gonna wish you did get smashed.]

The reply this time was pretty fast. She wasn't doing anything right now, was she?

[I know, you front-liners were pretty clear on that fact when you opened it up. Be careful on the next few floors, kay?]

[Same to you.]

*~B~*

**And that's this chapter done.**

**I'm scaring myself with the fact that I'm choosing to do this over the butt-loads of homework I'm getting nowadays. Maybe I've got my priorities set already. Writing before schoolwork. Yeah, I'm definitely setting myself to become a writer in the future, and more likely than not fail at it and find a random job at a fast food store to sustain myself.**

**There's something I might need to say. Six players died on this floor, and yet no one seemed to bat an eye. Well, that's because by now, they've become soldiers. The front-liners are soldiers fighting for freedom. They cannot lose sight of their goal due to a comrade dying, but that doesn't mean that they don't feel the loss. They just can't show it and let themselves be taken over by it. Or maybe they did, since I only focused on the main characters. The ones that died, the cannon fodder, definitely had friends among the other unnamed clearers, so maybe they did show it, but I didn't direct my writerscope towards them. As you can see, Klein did feel it when he thought Kirito was gone.**

**Don't want to say anything more and spend too much time here, since this chapter is, by my schedule, two days overdue, so I'm going to end it here.**

**Till next time in the next chapter: Dragon and Rat I**

**Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	11. Interlude: The Message

**Firstly, for those who haven't noticed, this is the second chapter I'm putting up today, so please look at the previous one first.**

**Secondly, to those who did notice, and/or have read it already, I AM TERRIBLY SORRY!**

**When I uploaded the last chapter today, I kept getting this feeling that I had missed something, and it took me a while before I remembered. I forgot to put in the message! Once again I am terribly sorry.**

**That led to me having to put up this short interlude chapter, which semi-broke the promise about what the next chapter is going to be. Don't worry, Dragon and Rat is gonna be next Friday's chapter.**

**Apologies again, and onto the missing piece.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own DxD or SAO any more than I own a decent memory … what was I doing again?**

***~B~***

**Interlude: The Message**

Once reaching the twelfth floor, Kirito had gone off on his own, leaving Asuna behind, grumbling. After a small conversation with her, Kiba left to find himself an inn.

Having found a decently cheap one, he went to his room and immediately lay down on the bed. Swiping his left finger down, he opened his menu, and finally looked at his inventory to see what the Last Attack bonus of the boss had been. He found an item called Volcanic Rock Gloves which were more of thin gauntlets than gloves, of a translucent red color, similar to a Lavalich's torso. He noted that it increased his attack and decided on replacing his ordinary brown gloves with it. Getting ready to sleep he clicked on his armor to unequip it – and stopped. An unknown icon was blinking at the corner of the name. Curious, he clicked on it, and a window appeared in front of him.

"_Yuuto. It's me, Rias."_

The instant he read those words, time stopped. Sitting up rapidly, he began reading through the rest.

"_There's so much I want to say, but I don't know how to. But if you are reading this message, then that means you're safe. Even as a Devil, I have to thank God for this. And there's that headache I expected._

"_Onii-sama came to me today, and told me that they had found a way to contact you. He said it was only possible because you had drawn the Gremory magic circle on something near you. I have to say, I was both proud and exasperated."_

Kiba lowered his gaze to the armor he had so painstakingly drawn the circle on._ This, this actually helped them send a message?_

"_I'm sorry to say, though, that we still haven't found a way to get you out of this game. You and so many others. There are many more Devils trapped in the game, as both players and non-players. Find them, and help them through._

"_I'm not asking you to clear the game. I'm asking you to do your best, and to look out for the other Devils trapped in the game. But most of all, I'm asking you to stay alive._

"_Don't die, Yuuto. Please don't die out on me. I don't mind if you get stronger or weaker from your time inside the virtual world. All I ask is that you come back to me._

"_Stay alive, Yuuto. Stay alive, stay safe, and come back here."_

Kiba could not stop the tears from falling, especially on Aincrad, where emotions couldn't be concealed. The tears kept falling as Kiba finally made up his resolve.

_I will come back. I will make it out of this game. I will._

***~B~***

**So yeah, that's what I was missing. It's tiny, so I really should not have forgotten it, and I'm not a fan of editing posted chapters, where people may or may not notice. Well, it's up now, and I can be relieved.**

**Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	12. Chapter Ten: Dragon and Rat I

**I am seriously considering throwing away my internet modem and buying a crapload of wires and connect them to the phone landlines, because I'm sure as hell that **_**that **_**would be plenty faster than the speed I get nowadays.**

**Could someone kindly explain to me in what sense 5GB is "Unlimited?" And could someone also explain why out of my usual 200kbps speed, only 20 ever gets used, but they count the entire thing as how much is used, effectively shredding my internet capacity ten times faster than it should?**

**Seriously, it freaking irritates me. And I can't write properly when I'm irritated either. Anyway, that's that, and perhaps I should just make do with what I got for now.**

**Recently I wrote out the skill sets that the mains of my story will have by the end (yes I've already decided the end) and I noticed something: Kirito's skill set is freaking HUGE. He's not exactly overpowered, as much as over skilled by the end of it. Okay, maybe not. It's just that, compared to the others, he has a pretty mammoth skill set. And it's not that he easily wins every fight either.**

**I also got another idea recently that involves the fourth and fifth protagonists of this arc (i.e. the ones this chapter features) and that solves a lot of my future problems as well. Guess I should stop thinking about the future, and focus on this chapter first. Onward, ho!**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own DxD and SAO.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Ten – Dragon and Rat I: Strength**

In a dimly lit room, a young crimson-haired girl sat beside a bed. A skinny fourteen-year-old boy lay in the bed, connected to various medical equipment, a gray helmet saying "NerveGear" covering his head. One solitary white lamp glowed over the bed, and multiple screens filled with text lined the walls.

Rias Gremory, Kiba Yuuto and Sirzechs Lucifer were the only ones in the room. Sirzechs was speaking to Ajuka over a communications-circle.

Rias sighed. She knew she could not just stay here for very long. She got up from her chair, and her eyes wandered. Her brother had not yet noticed her moving, and she glanced at the nearest screen.

Luck would have it that that particular screen held a report. Rias would have skimmed past it, if not for the title.

_Tally on the Extra Hundred Prisoners_

She paused at seeing that, glanced at her brother, and noticing him still speaking to Ajuka, moved towards that screen, and began to read.

"_The following is the list of all the people that we as of yet identified among the extra hundred prisoners of Sword Art Online. The total number of identified beings reaches up to 83."_

_So they still haven't found out who all of them are, _Rias wondered. She scanned through the list, through names she mostly did not recognize. She saw Serafall Leviathan's name and felt a pang of sympathy for Sona. Her friend did not show much on her face, but Rias could tell.

"– and so, we should still stay vigilant. We have little to no idea what his plans are, Ajuka."

[Understood. Now, if only we can get that through the heads of the higher-ups.]

Sirzechs cut the call and turned back, about to sigh, when he noticed where Rias was looking.

"Hey, wait, Rias! Don't look at that!" he said pulling her back gently, but firmly.

It was too late: the damage had been done. She had seen the entire list, and the one name that she knew all too well listed among them.

Rias turned to her brother, eyes wide. "You … weren't planning on telling me?"

"I wasn't sure that we should not after, not after this," he replied sadly.

"The entire Underworld knows! You should have told me earlier!" Rias cried.

"… I know. I'm sorry."

*~B~*

**[Aincrad 2****nd**** floor, Urbus. Floors cleared: 2]**

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

What was I doing?

_Thud thud thud._

Why was I wasting my time like this?

_Thud. Thud. Crack._

What good was I doing with this? There was no way I could get out anyway.

My eyes refocused and I looked at my fists, punching away at the stone in front of me, almost like a machine. I wasn't even hitting the right part in the right way. Just whacking away at the damn boulder and barely leaving anything more than a small crack.

I didn't want to die. I'd nearly died once already, and I didn't want to go through that ever again.

My stomach screamed at me. How long had I been doing this? Hours? Days? I neither knew nor cared. I stopped thinking as I once again continued to throw fruitless punches at the boulder.

*~B~*

From inside his hut, the monk watched. He watched the boy who had come here wearing a red armor, but was now without it. The boy who had come with high spirits, who was now almost like a lifeless machine.

He remembered when he used to be like that. Endlessly toiling to no end, desperate to seek something he did not know he was seeking. Fighting and running, and standing up when beaten down, only to be pommeled back to the ground again. He saw himself in the boy who continued to punch the rock, as if doing so would provide him an answer.

The message of his prison warden came to the front of his mind.

"_To you, I am granting a special position. Your NPC has the capacity to hand out to a player a game-breaker, what you could call a Balance Breaker of this world. I prefer the term Unique Skill. Should any player manage to break the boulder outside your hut, you can choose to give them this skill. Well, doing so would mean you regaining control of your body, so that would blow away your one chance at autonomy. I am certain you will choose the right person."_

There was a loud sound, as the boulder broke to pieces after days of endless damage. The boy stared at the disappearing polygons, his eyes empty, unknowing of what he should do next.

In that instant the monk made his decision. A decision with which he could also sidestep his restrictions.

_Kayaba. You probably should not have made your rules so bendable regarding this._

He would give this player the Unique Skill. But, _not for the purpose of merely giving it to him._

He would train the boy. Train him with his own fists, the ones he had spent a lifetime honing. He may not have his own body in this world, but he had his knowledge and his own self-training. He would make sure his one and only act of freedom would go right.

*~B~*

**[Aincrad 2****nd**** floor, Urbus. Floors cleared: 8]**

The headaches were beginning to get to Argo, as she landed yet another critical hit on the last of the monsters.

_Honestly, I entered this game so that I didn't get those damned headaches, and now they're happening even in here._

Argo had no idea why she had those abnormal headaches. She also had no idea why she kept reminding herself where the weak points of the monsters she was facing were. It wasn't as though she needed to land critical hits to deal with them.

She also had no idea why she was even bothering to do this

_**~Ten minutes ago, 9**__**th**__** floor~**_

Argo sat by herself at a secluded corner of an inn, watching the celebrations taking place inside. The eighth floor boss had been tricky, but they had come out of that little skirmish with no lives lost, thanks to Asuna. Argo could not make a connection between the half-dead girl mechanically killing monsters on the first floor to the more-than-capable raid commander that she was now.

However, something else was preying on her mind.

The ninth floor was the floor where Extra Skills began to appear amongst monsters. The Katana skill that certain mobs exhibited during the beta, for example _(which that bastard Kayaba decided to completely troll us with, putting it right with the first floor's boss)_. And also, it was the floor where the players would learn about the Martial Arts skill hiding at the edges of the second floor.

She had heard from Kirito what had happened to that pervert. Argo wondered whether, now that it was possible more players would go seek out that skill, she should go find him and see what she could do.

She shook her head at that. _The heck am I thinking? That's not my business._

However, part of her still felt guilty. He was the first person she had helped willingly – perhaps not willingly, but for free, and he had suffered this kind of fate.

Argo sighed, and put her head down. _Guess I'll just go check on him._

Three minutes later she had taken the warp gate back to Urbus, and was on her way to the hut at the edge of the floor.

*~B~*

**[Aincrad 2****nd**** Floor, Urbus. Floors cleared: 2]**

I hit. I hit and I hit and I hit. And at one point, the boulder completely shattered, my fist already drawn back for another pointless strike.

I'd broken the rock. But now what? I didn't think myself anywhere near strong enough to move from this area. Actually, I was just too terrified to leave.

I hadn't slept in I didn't know how long. The first time I tried, nightmares woke me up in minutes. I hadn't eaten either.

The rock was completely gone, and I had nothing more to do. _Let this end already, _I thought.

Just then –

Footsteps sounded behind me. Slowly, I turned to look, and found that kung-fu monk from the hut standing there. Something, something looked different though…

"You've broken the boulder, eh?" he said. I couldn't place what it was that looked so different about him. I nodded in response.

The monk chuckled. "Come on in. You've spent enough time using the rock as a punching bag. Even if it isn't your real body, you'd still get tired and hungry, you know? It's not exactly a good idea to keep fighting a dead stone for days at a go."

It clicked then. "W-wait. What did you just say?"

"Hm? I said it's not exactly a good idea to–"

"You said 'even if it isn't your real body.' You… you're an NPC aren't you? How'd you know that?"

The monk smiled bitterly. "Come on, we can discuss this inside. And I'm pretty sure your virtual stomach agrees."

That game designer really shouldn't have made it possible for your virtual avatar to get a growling stomach.

*~B~*

The monk sat, watching the boy wolf down the food. The stores at the back of the hut weren't just decoration pieces. Not that Kayaba had made any indication for the players that it was anything but that. Even then, his eye for detail was immense.

"Hey, you could've told me earlier that you had this much food back here, you know," the boy said.

"If I had done so, I would not be able to talk right now."

The boy paused in his eating and looked up at him. "I don't get it," he said simply.

The monk knew he could not tell him the exact truth. That he was a Devil imprisoned in a game made by someone who wasn't human. He pulled together what tiny fragments of knowledge he knew about the game, and then said, "Let's put it this way. I'm someone aside from the players who is also trapped in this game."

"So you're not an NPC?" he asked.

"If by that you mean non-living, then no, I'm not."

"Okay. What was that you said about not being able to talk right now?"

"The game designer, Kayaba Akihiko, gave me one chance at free movement in this game, to do any one thing. Had I used that chance to tell you about the food back here, I wouldn't be able to tell you this."

"Uh, okay. But, why are you trapped here too?"

"I do not know. What goes through his mind is something normal … normal humans can't understand. What I do know is that he sees this entire castle as a kind of experiment."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "Experiment?" he repeated. "People dying is an experiment?"

The monk sighed. "I can't tell you my opinion on this, because if I don't get to why I chose this moment to be able to move again, he might take away that chance."

"What are you talking about?"

"Boy. Do you want to survive this world?"

The boy hesitated. He averted his look, and said quietly, "Yeah, but it doesn't matter. I made the stupid decision of coming here – just to meet some cute girls, hah – and now I'm stuck here, just waiting to die."

"If all hundred floors can be cleared, you can escape."

"I know that! But I can't do anything about that. I nearly died once, I was only finger away, and I don't want to have to go through that again."

"So you plan on sitting idle when you could easily join the front line fighters and help clear this game?"

"Do I look strong enough to you?" he demanded.

"Yes."

That stopped him. He laughed. "Hey, I didn't want a joke. I'm weak, I'm more scared of hurting myself than being hurt by monsters, and I'm too scared to even leave this place. What makes you think I'm strong?"

"Because you're just like me," the monk replied. The boy turned a questioning stare on him. The monk smiled. "When I was a small boy I was weak, born unable to do what the rest of my family could. For that I was shut out. I thought of myself as weak, and I lost every fight that I got into. But then, then I began to look forward. I promised myself that I would stop crying, that I would use my own two hands to get to where I wanted."

The boy kept looking at him. "How?" he asked. "How'd you manage to … to get past all of that?"

"It's simple, really. By reminding myself who I was doing it for. Tell me, do you have family back in the real world?"

"Yeah."

"And do you not think they're waiting for you to return to them?"

"… yeah."

"Good. Now tell me, what is it you wanted to be, back in the real world."

The boy thought for a while, and then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Well," he began awkwardly, "I guess I just wanted to have a harem."

That was one response the monk was not expecting. Suddenly, he laughed out loud, startling the boy. "Brilliant! That's one I've never heard yet!" _And from an ordinary human too._

Finally stopping laughing, he looked directly at the boy. "Well, then you might as well start getting stronger to get back and achieve that goal, no?"

The boy grinned weakly. "Yeah, but how exactly?"

"Simple. I'll train you; make you stronger, strong enough for you to be one of the top warriors imprisoned here."

"Really? How?"

"You already have the Martial Arts skill, but there is a second skill that I'm only allowed to give one person. That's why I had a chance at momentary freedom," the monk said, prying off a piece of the wooden floor. Inside was what looked like a leather forearm guard, except with a blade on top.

"Combat Blade," the monk said. "It's a Unique Skill that has extremely low cooldown time," he continued, repeating the terms Kayaba had said to him, having absolutely no idea what they meant. He just hoped that the boy understood them.

The boy took it from him and looked at it. "Hey, you said you could only give it once, right? So why me?"

"Do you not want it?"

"I'm not strong at all. It'd be better if you gave it to one of the really good players, like Kirito–"

"It's precisely because you're not strong yet that I am giving this to you. Not only that, I will train you. Not this skill, because I do not know much about how to use it, but I can train you in martial arts."

"You don't know how to use it, and yet you're giving me the skill?"

"Just because Kayaba handed it to me to give to someone doesn't mean I can use it," the monk replied.

The boy looked at it again, and put in onto his left forearm. "I'm Ise, by the way. What's your name?" he asked, offering a hand.

The monk smiled and shook the hand. "Sairaorg," he said.

*~B~*

**AAAAHHHH, THIS WAS SO SHORT!**

**Writer's block is the greatest adversary any man can ever face, besides trying to completely fill a Lays packet, because that seems humanly impossible.**

**I absolutely detest my first-person POV writing skills. But I really do have to use it for Kirito and Ise.**

**Despite the name, Argo got a short appearance this chapter. That will definitely change the next chapter onwards. The only reason I ended it here is because I wanted to end it with a wham line. Though I don't think many of you were surprised after that first bit from the monk's perspective. That and Rias's reaction to finding his name there.**

**There are plenty of Extra Prisoners in SAO that would definitely be a surprise, at least to the Devils when they find out, especially the 52****nd**** floo – oh damn, I said too much.**

**In any case, this side of the story is one I'm still working on a lot, so I apologize if it isn't up to the mark. As for Ise suddenly going from 'dead' to 'somewhat laughing', well, there's a reason people wear masks. I never took Ise as someone who would openly show any pain he was feeling (they had to drag it out of him to help him in volume 10) but I hope I did alright.**

**Well, that sounds like everything, I guess. You could call this chapter a prologue of Issei's side of the story. I have this notion that a prologue is where you cram in as many mysteries as you can, so that's what I did. It's not wrong, is it? Although there is only one …**

**And as for the timeline jumping around like a panicky kangaroo, yeah, I needed to do that. The chapter would've been even shorter if I restricted it to just Issei's side, and not Argo's, and though that might have been better, it would leave me feeling unfulfilled.**

**In any case, that's another chapter done. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	13. Chapter Eleven - Dragon and Rat II

**So here we are again. Now, I'll get to replying a few reviews first:**

**ShotgunWillie: I debated for quite a while whether or not I should answer the request for a spoiler. I've come to the decision that it really won't be a spoiler. And the answer is: no, it's not Serafall. I've got something even better planned for that floor.**

**Shin XIX: uh, sorry, who? If by those two ninja you mean the idiots who were pestering Argo, hey, they're comic relief. They aren't important characters, not one bit.**

**Master DK: I'm planning something more of a chronological series of events. After this chapter, I'm going to write stuff chronologically, meeting up to the point where there's a sort-of crossover between the two sides on Floor 52. I really should stop giving away stuff. Don't worry; it won't retcon the previously established idea that Kirito never saw Ise afterwards in Aincrad.**

**I'll also easily state that this side of the story, I still only have part of a plan on. At least, this chapter. The rest I think I've got it down.**

**Currently I am in a ridiculously good mood. Why? Because of Kazuma Kamachi's 10****th**** anniversary light novel promotional video. Even if they weren't voiced, to see Othinus and Thor animated and moving … no matter what anyone else says, I am taking that masterpiece video as a sign that season three of Index is coming soon. I really did have teary eyes after that vid.**

**Should I stop rambling now? Ah, but before that: Ise's side of the story will be in a somewhat lighter tone than Kirito's side.**

**And now, on we go.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own DxD or SAO any more than mashed potatoes are made of ducks.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Eleven: Dragon and Rat II – Beginnings**

**[Aincrad 2****nd**** floor, Urbus. Floors cleared: 8]**

Argo was getting annoyed at herself. She had a job to do in Aincrad. Why was she bothering with a long, long trek through the mountains to where that pervert was? To top it all off, the headaches weren't subsiding, irritating her more when she ran into more monsters.

_Right eye. Left flank. Third one open on the left._

_Shut up, me, _Argo grumbled as she landed perfect critical hits on each of the three monsters she was facing. She didn't have the stats of a front-line player, but she had significant speed and agility, enabling her to really hit where it hurts. She also over-leveled them by a pretty big number, so coupled with the critical hits, they all died easily.

She sighed. _Two more minutes to that hut,_ she thought. And that was when certain noises reached her ears.

Argo stiffened, and then looked around cautiously. They were sounds of fighting. But something sounded amiss.

_No metal noises. I can hear faint shouts and impact noises, but I don't hear a single sword clanging against other weapons._

Argo put two and two together. She did know one person who had an aversion to blades and instead chose his own two fists. Said person was also nearby.

Assuming the worst, Argo ran at top speed towards the hut. And what she found there left her absolutely dumbstruck.

The pervert was in the midst of a battle with the NPC of the hut. When Argo arrived to see the sight, the pervert had jumped back to avoid a roundhouse kick from the monk NPC. The two of them were keeping their distance, waiting for the right moment.

As Argo watched, the pervert made the first move. He jumped forward, left arm bent at the elbow and drawn back. The monk blocked and grabbed his fist with his right hand as the pervert struck, and aimed a chop at his waist. The pervert spun clockwise, countering with his right elbow at the monk's stomach. The strike landed with a resounding thud as the monk let go of the pervert's fist and moved back.

This time, the NPC attacked first. Jumping forwards with tremendous speed, he landed in front of the pervert, and attempted a double attack with his right knee and fist. The pervert moved his left leg back, taking the chance to turn it into a spinning kick. The monk ducked under the blow, his momentum carrying him past the pervert. Before the pervert could react, the monk kicked backwards, making him stumble forward.

The monk wasn't done. The second the pervert was pushed back, he unleashed a frightening combo of hits, ending with a powerful punch that knocked him to the ground. He tried to land an axe kick while the pervert was down, but the pervert rolled away just in time.

Argo was pretty sure she looked like she'd been run over by a freight train. About a hundred questions scampered through her mind, clawing for attention. What happened to the pervert? Why was he suddenly fighting so well? Why was he fighting the NPC? Why was the damn _NPC _fighting? And how the hell did she not know about whatever kind of quest the perverted beginner had initiated?

It was another instant later that Argo realized something that she should have realized much, much earlier. If he had been taking so many hits, _what condition was his HP bar in?_

The pervert got up then and – to Argo's further astonishment – grinned. To her further surprise – _just how much more are they planning on messing with me? – _the NPC smirked back. "Remarkable progress, Ise," he said. "It's impressive how fast you're learning."

"Well, that's more or less thanks to you, isn't it?" the pervert replied.

The two of them took their stances once more – or so it seemed, because Ise attacked almost immediately. The minute he reached the NPC his forearms and feet began to glow a vivid crimson.

The monk didn't have time to react. Ise's left fist nailed him in the face from the right, followed up by a direct punch with his right fist. Still in motion, he turned and landed a spinning kick on the NPC's neck with his left leg. Stomping that leg onto the ground after that, he swung his right leg vertically up, kicking him square in the chin, and then, with a booming sound effect, slammed his foot into the NPC's chest, knocking him off his feet.

For about a second Ise didn't move, or rather couldn't move. When he finally could, he relaxed and dropped his guard. "Got you this time," he said.

The monk laughed before standing up again. Something else also clicked in Argo's mind. NPC's weren't supposed to laugh or talk like players. They were supposed to have a fixed set of mannerisms. _Clearly no one told this guy that, _Argo wondered.

"By the way," the monk said, turning towards where Argo was standing, "that girl standing there, is she a friend of yours?"

…_I probably should have hid, _Argo thought

*~B~*

I turned to look where Sairaorg-san was pointing and I found the most unlikely person for it to have been standing there looking gob-smacked. I was also a bit disappointed since it would've been cooler if it was some random cute girl who was completely amazed by my prowess. I can wish for that much, can't I?

Not that Argo wasn't cute. Though if I told her that she'd probably have to resort to turning her cursor orange.

She hadn't said a single word. "Uh, hey," I said, trying to break the silence.

"You… alright, I'll bite-na. Who the hell are you and what didja do with Voyeur?" she said.

"Are you ever gonna remember my name?!"

"Phew, so it's still you. And to answer your question, no."

I take back what I said about her being cute. "Alright, so what exactly are you doing here?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh, we just cleared the ninth floor, which means it's only a few hours before someone finds out about this place-sa. I spared you the embarrassment of being stared at by players thinking you're an NPC disciple of that monk. Speaking of which, just what kind of quest didja activate-ya?" she demanded. Oh right, she was an information broker.

But, this wasn't exactly the best situation to explain it in. "How bout we head inside? It's kind of a long story."

*~B~*

Argo didn't look like she would digest the truckload of information she had received any time soon. Neither did she look like she was going to stop eating anytime soon.

"So, lemme get this straight-ya," she finally said. "Old man monk here is actually a real person trapped in an NPC avatar, with only the ability to perform one task of freedom. And there're apparently more people like him in the rest of Aincrad as well-ya."

"Well … that about summarizes everything, yeah," I said.

She looked up and stared at me. "You're hiding something-nya," she said flatly.

Goddammit, she was sharp. Yeah, I was hiding something: I hadn't told her about the other skill that I'd obtained down here. I didn't know whether it was because I might not trust her enough, or because I just didn't want people to know. Sairaorg-san had made it pretty clear that Combat Blade was a one-person-only skill set.

"Am I? I'm pretty sure that's it," I laughed nervously.

She kept her eyes on me for a few more seconds, and by then I was getting pretty uncomfortable. "Alright," she said finally. "Well, I guess that finishes what I came here to do."

"Huh?" I said. Now that I thought about it, was checking on me the only reason she came seven floors down?

"Still, it's interesting," she said, turning to Sairaorg-san, who was sitting there in front of us. "I thought players were the only ones in this game. Why would Kayaba trap other unrelated people here as well, and not even as proper players?"

"Hey, what's that mean?" I asked.

"Think about it. This guy, he isn't a player, he doesn't look like he has any interest in VRMMORPGs, so why is he here?"

"Uh, I don't know what you're getting at," I said. Why couldn't she just explain everything at a go?

She turned to me with a disbelieving face. "Were you really that stupid-da?" she wondered. "It means that either he's connected to Kayaba somehow, or he pissed him off. And in the latter case, how exactly did Kayaba force him into this game?"

Sairaorg-san hadn't said a word, and was merely listening to Argo's accusations.

"You'd need a NerveGear to have your consciousness sent here to Aincrad, and unless he caught you sleeping and stuck it onto your head, I find it unlikely-ya. Which leaves the possibility that you're not trapped here, but you entered the game of your own free will," she finished, staring suspiciously at him.

I was a bit annoyed at her words. "Hey," I said, "Sairaorg-san here helped me back onto my feet after I'd almost lost it. If it wasn't for him, you'd probably have found me sitting out there doing nothing."

"One chance at free action, right? If that's the case, why'd he decide to help you-na? That plus his circumstances, I don't see it likely that he'd do something like that without wanting anything in return. Also," she continued, glancing at me, "no offense-sa, but what would he want from someone who'd almost given up on life?"

"Ise," Sairaorg said, before I could get any more irritated. "How far has your Martial Arts skill gone?"

"Huh? Oh, it's passed 350."

"Good. Seems like you're strong enough now to walk around up to the seventh floor with ease."

"Hey, don't just ignore me," Argo protested.

"Young lady. If I were to try to answer your questions, it would mean going against the purpose I set myself to gain freedom for, and I would be forced back into an NPC's shell. So, I'm sorry, but I cannot answer any of those accusations right now. Although Ise here may be able to answer two or three."

Argo didn't look convinced. I took a breath and exhaled. She wasn't to blame, when I thought about it. She was a player who'd tasked herself with obtaining the information other players needed to survive this game, so she'd have to be sure of whatever she heard. Also, something like this, it'd be hard for anyone to digest.

Heh. Guess I was just too trusting.

"In that case, I'm done here-ra," she said, getting up. "Good luck with whatever you're gonna do next, Lecher."

With that, she left.

"Ise," Sairaorg-san said. "you could have easily told her about your Unique Skill."

"… I guess I didn't want any other players to find out. She's an information broker, right?"

"And what reason do you have to not trust her?"

I had to think about that one.

Before the first floor was cleared, Argo's reputation was already big. 'The Rat,' as people called her, was who you'd go to if you wanted information, any kind of information. If she knew it, she would sell it. Be it about the game or about a player, she would know and she would tell you for a price.

Me, I didn't like that notion. I knew damn well that it was thanks to her info-booklets that people actually managed to live through the first floor, but the idea that someone knew things about you and would sell it to others … I didn't really like that idea.

After the first floor was cleared, the Beater stories began spreading. In about two days, many of the players held resentment towards beta testers, but especially towards one certain tester they dubbed the Beater. And there were also plenty of rumors that Argo was a beta tester.

I was an idiot walking through my first attempt at a game. I'd decided I would trust veteran opinions and almost found myself sharing that meaningless hatred for beta testers. It didn't take long at all for me to realize I was being stupid, but I still didn't like the idea of an info broker. So it was with some suspicion that I looked up Argo when I needed help.

I'd more or less lost all that suspicion by the time I met her, but I still didn't completely trust her.

"She won't tell, if that's what you're worried about," Sairaorg-san said.

"You're sure about that?"

"I'm sure that you are being foolish not to trust someone with a good heart like hers. I've only seen her this one time, and I'm sure of that much. Tell her at your first opportunity – which may not be long," he ended darkly.

I got a chill at those last words. "What do you mean?"

"You should hurry. It's something that activates once I give Combat Blade to a player. Once a player – and not necessarily the player who attained that skill – leaves this hut after I give it away, only some distance down is a large monster swarm. And since that girl left just now–"

"Tell me important stuff like that a bit earlier, dammit!" I yelled, jumping up.

"Ise. Are you really ready to step back out into the dangers of Aincrad?"

"… probably not. But I'm not just gonna stand here while she's outnumbered and at a risk of dying."

It really didn't matter that I disliked her occupation. I wasn't going to stand by when someone was at risk of dying.

"In that case, this will be my last conversation with you," Sairaorg-san said, smiling. "Do me a favor, Ise. Help everybody who's stuck here to survive. If you can, then don't let a single person die. Help the other fighters ensure the escape of every last prisoner of Aincrad."

With that, he walked back to that same place where he as an NPC used to sit. Getting back into that Zen position, he disappeared. That is, the sense of living that he gave off, it vanished. The NPC's eyes became empty and monotonous once again.

I didn't have time to waste. "Goodbye, Sairaorg-san," I said, before running out of the hut.

*~B~*

Argo dodged around for dear life as yet another monster sent its curved horns her way.

_Gaaah, this is annoying! Why is so much stuff happening today that I don't know about?!_

If anyone could read Argo's mind, they would be surprised to know that what she was more worried about was her pride as an info broker. That didn't mean she wasn't doing her best to survive though.

_Between the eyes. Above the knees._

One thing that surprised Argo was that she somehow knew exactly where to hit them for the most damage. She knew _exactly _where to hit them to land a critical hit.

And yet Argo was pretty sure she hadn't fought these monsters before.

Rampage Ox, a dark brown red eyed ferocious looking ox with massive horns and ridiculously high speed for its size. Not to mention the fact that it had almost blubber-like fat for some reason, which was indicative of its ability to cushion any blows landed on its body, reducing any damage it took. This left only its legs and head as a decently damageable area.

Except that the legs were in constant, swift motion and its head was guarded by the two massive horns.

But even so…

The red colored word CRITICAL floated above every monster as Argo attacked each and every one of them with a thrust of her claws into their eyes. Using her high agility, she managed to dodge around the horns, strike them over their knees to immobilize them and then utilize her higher level to make quick work of them.

An ox charged at her from the left. Argo jumped up and over it, slashing her left claw at its head, and landing as polygons scattered past her.

_There's one huge problem though, _Argo thought.

She was vastly outnumbered. The number of monsters was easily one of the most Argo had ever seen congregated in one place.

Three more oxen charged from three different sides. Argo stood her place, and then jumped for the one right in front of her.

_After its attack, below its right ear._

The oxen from the sides collided as she dashed forwards just in time. Racing at the one in front, which was charging at her at a high speed as well, she ducked under the horns, swung her right hand outwards and cut both its front knees, and then stabbed it just below the ear.

Blue light burst as polygons and red light formed the word CRITICAL. Argo jumped over the oxen, landing a slash when possible, until she was outside the circle of monsters.

There were too many, far too many. Argo counted two dozen, no, around thirty of them. Even that might be an underestimation.

It was too late that she realized that the monsters were programmed to spawn _around _the players. A crippling impact hit her from behind and she was blown straight back towards the group – straight towards one of their aimed horns.

Argo noticed her HP drop from the hit. Higher level or not, a third of her HP was gone. _Ridiculous attack power? Now that's just unfair._

While Argo flew toward that ox, she realized she was also in a good position to attack. She spread her arms, elbows bent slightly, and the claws glowed blood red.

Prey Catcher bored through the skulls of two Rampage Oxen, and Argo was inflicted with the post-skill freeze. However, using the skill was another miscalculation on her part.

Two oxen simultaneously slammed into her from the right, blowing her away towards the trees of the nearby woods. Her back slammed into the trunk, and she slid down, breathing hard.

Pain was one thing, force was another. And Kayaba was merciless in making sure of that. Argo felt winded from that blow, and her eyes hastily traveled to her HP bar.

Seeing the red sliver remaining, for the second time in this game, Argo felt fear.

_Too careless. Even if I outlevelled them by a lot, I should have been more careful._

Around three of them were stomping their hooves on the ground, preparing to charge. Argo could not move, and she knew she couldn't escape this one.

_Really, after all that, I'm gonna die so insignificantly down here? _Argo's lips twitched. "Just wasn't enough, was it?" she muttered.

She thought that she would have been fine with the idea of dying. Now that the moment had arrived, she didn't want to go.

The oxen charged, and Argo closed her eyes halfway –

Only to open them wide the next instant.

Someone jumped over the Ox in the middle, landing a glowing green dropkick that mercilessly shattered its skull. Before it shattered, the person used it as a stepping stone and swung his right leg around and caught the other one below the chin, knocking it upwards. A third green blur appeared behind the person, and with a rushing noise, something cut through the third Rampage Ox's left legs.

Argo didn't believe what she was seeing. "Pervert?"

"Move, now!" he shouted at her. Something glinted over his left forearm and he jumped forwards, folding that arm back.

The blade on that arm cut straight through the mouth of one Ox. He retreated the next second, turning left and, blade glowing yellow, slashed twice diagonally, top-left to bottom-right and then top-right to bottom-left, cutting into the thick fat of a second Ox.

Ise's immensely high attack stat that he had invested most of his stat points in resulted in him having enough power to mow through the Oxen.

Argo was still staring in disbelief as he slashed twice in rapid succession, blade glowing sky blue, elbowing the Ox in the horn and then unfolding his arm to hit its jaw with the back of his fist, also giving off sky blue light.

"I told you to move, dammit!" he yelled back at her.

Argo came to her senses and got back to her feet, and created some distance between her and the monsters, which were now focusing entirely on Ise.

Strong as he was, Ise was facing difficulty trying to fend off a huge number of monsters on his own. _I need to help, _Argo thought. She didn't know how she did it, but she had to help somehow. Argo took a deep breath, and turned towards the Oxen, as a slight headache assaulted her.

"Smash the knees of the one behind you!" she yelled.

Ise glanced momentarily in her direction, but did as she said – to more than one of them. Five Oxen were immobilized, and Ise immediately turned his attention to the others.

_Six second immobility limit._

Argo counted down as Ise dealt with two more Oxen. _Zero. _"Get those five now!" she said.

The blade on his left arm glowed golden. Five stabs drew a fan shape, the heads of the Oxen caught in the vertices.

"On your left, hit its left ear! Behind you, get that one under the chin!"

Argo continued to shout instructions as Ise managed to deal with the rest with relative ease. However…

_Back is open._

Three Oxen at the same time slammed into Ise like battering rams. He had no armor or much equipment on at all, and was blown off towards Argo. Ise landed hard about two feet away from her.

_Danger of death._

And somehow Argo knew that his HP had taken a severe drop.

She saw his eyes move to the corner of his vision. She noticed his pupils dilate as he took in the information that definitely wasn't good. She saw every limb of his body lock up.

Argo hurriedly turned towards the monsters while opening her menu with her left hand. Zooming through her inventory, she produced two high-level potions and moved towards Ise, not taking her eyes off the monsters.

_Five left, _she counted. _I can do this._

She gave both her potions to Ise. "Drink those _now,_" Argo commanded, stepping forward.

"… what? Hey wait, your HP shouldn't be in a state for you to–"

"It's not," Argo admitted. "And your mind is in no state for you to fight either."

She didn't look back at him. She didn't want him to know that neither was hers.

_Gut up, _Argo told herself. _You're a damn beta tester. You can finish this easily._

All five monsters charged at once as Argo's claws, positioned at her sides, began to glow purple. She turned and ran at an angle, straight towards the one coming from the left.

With a yell she jumped, claws held together at her left, and landing on a horn, jumped sideways while slashing towards the right. Cat Claw gouged through three Rampage Oxen, but did not reach the fourth in time.

Time seemed to slow as Argo saw the fourth one change its trajectory towards her, the fifth following close behind. The skill delay imprisoned Argo yet again as she was unable to do anything except watch her oncoming doom.

A deep red fist smashed through the horns and hit the fourth Ox square in its left eye. Argo saw the fifth Ox run towards the owner of that fist – and a green blade went over that arm to cut straight through the middle of its eyes. The last Ox shattered as Ise remained in that position.

Two seconds later he fell on his back, breathing heavily.

Argo stared in silence as he handed one of the potions back to her. She took it and drank it, watching her HP bar gradually refill.

Before she could open her mouth to say anything, Ise spoke up. "Thanks," he said.

"What've you got to thank me for-nya?" Argo said, stunned.

"You didn't really say much, but those simple words helped me get back onto my feet," he replied, smiling.

Argo didn't know what to say to that. After a moment she said, "I should be the one thanking you-na. That's twice in the last five minutes that you saved my life."

"Don't thank me for something anyone should have done," he said.

Argo sighed. _Guess he's still optimistic, if he thinks _anybody_ would have done what he did._

"Oh yeah, and I'm sorry too," Ise continued, supporting himself with his elbows. "I kinda got annoyed at you for asking those questions back there. Also, I didn't tell you everything."

"I'm not gonna press you if you don't want to tell me," she replied.

Ise looked at her for a second, and then sighed. "Guess that old man was right. I should've just trusted you fully. Well, you can ask any question you like and I'll answer."

Argo thought about the dozens of questions she had regarding the recent events. She decided to start with the most obvious one. "What skill is that?" she asked, pointing at the blade on Ise's left hand.

"Combat Blade. Sairaorg-san said it was a Unique Skill, and something about it having a tiny cooldown time."

_That explains that rapid barrage of skills, _Argo thought to herself. "Alright. Question two-nya: did you actually take any damage from fighting that monk NPC?"

"Well, I don't really get it, but something about him not having stats and not having an avatar designed to damage, so his attacks didn't really cut my HP," Ise answered.

"That … should be impossible. Any kind of impact in the Outer Area should be damaging."

"Like I said, I don't really get it."

"Okay-ya. Near the end of that battle, you used a skill right after a high-level martial arts skill. I've seen Kii-bou use Beast Slayer, and that has a pretty high cooldown time. So how'd you do that?"

"That was the, uh, first skill of Combat Blade. Relief Strike. It allows me to use it right after a Martial Arts or Combat Blade skill with a high delay, allowing me to attack before I get attacked while frozen. Well, the downside is it then gives me twice the original cooldown time."

From what she had seen and heard up to now, Argo realized that this Unique Skill, Combat Blade, was quite possibly the most versatile skill yet found in Aincrad.

"By the way," Ise said, "can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it-nya?"

"Don't tell anyone about this skill, or about Sairaorg-san. Can you do that?"

Argo considered that. Since he had said it was a Unique Skill, nobody else would be able to get it anyway. "…Alright," she said after some hesitation.

"Thanks," he said, smiling. For some reason Argo felt like loosening her lips a bit as well.

"Oh yeah, forgot to mention. That battle just now? It, uh," Ise said, before rubbing his head sheepishly, "it might have been my fault."

Argo seriously felt like throttling him there and then. "Something to do with Combat Blade," he said hurriedly, noting her expression. "Some sort of opening quest or something, I dunno, but I'm sorry!" he said, clapping his hands together and half-bowing.

Argo took a deep breath, and released it. For some reason, she was feeling better than she had in the last few days. What with how busy she had been, and all the rumors and politics that had already begun in Aincrad, she was surprised to find herself relaxing after coming the closest to death she had yet come in this world.

"Well, I suppose now my job here's done-nya," Argo said. "I should get going soon. Oh, and Ise?"

"Yeah?" he asked, lowering his hands while still looking frightened that she might whack him.

Argo smirked a bit at that. "Are you planning on going to the next few floors of Aincrad now?"

He paused to consider that question. "I'll take it slow," he said after a while. "I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to roam around Aincrad without getting scared of dying."

"You look fine to me," Argo remarked. "You should at least first stop at Urbus, get yourself some equipment. I really am going to hit you if you say you're gonna go around the game like that."

Ise looked at his clothes. A plain light red shirt and brown trousers was all he was wearing, his leather forearm guard with the steel blade on it the only thing that would make him look out of place in the real world. "Hey, you're no better off!" he retorted.

Argo considered her grey shirt with a white sleeveless top, and her black pants that were only down to just above her knees, and brownish long socks covering her shins. A brown leather belt and two more straps above it around her waist held numerous throwing needles, a couple of knives and a dagger. The Retractable Iron Claws on her wrists seemed to rust near the base of the blade, but that was part of the design. Over all of that she wore a dirt-brown hooded cloak.

"Really? I think I've got plenty."

"Yeah, right. Take that cloak off and you're pretty much expo–"

A claw whooshed through the air to stop right before his neck. "… I – I knew you wouldn't do anything," he said nervously, "you'd become orange."

"Oh? Would you like to test that theory-nya?"

"… No?" Ise asked, not too sure himself.

Argo laughed. "Well, see you around, Ise," she said, turning away and beginning to walk.

After a second, Ise called out, "Hey, you finally used my name! And twice already!"

Argo stopped, and looked back. Smirking slyly, she said, "A slip of the tongue. Catch you later, Pervert."

With that she left him behind, heading for Urbus, wondering what kind of effect that pervert had that managed to make her laugh like that.

*~B~*

**I seriously disliked the first part of this chapter. Argo's suspiciousness, Ise's mistrust, I felt like I was going crazy.**

**The reason I decided to make Ise a tad more suspicious is because I wanted to give him at least one vice. The canon Ise is basically perfect, except for that perverted side, and that thing that happened in volume 10, though that wasn't even really his fault.**

**I think some of you can already see where this is going. Heheh. And before Ddraig too.**

**I've got a couple more surprise characters planned for the Aincrad arc. Oh no, I'm not saying any more. I shall shut up before my snitching brain forces me to spill.**

**In case I've left any questions in this chapter unanswered, please tell me in the reviews. And that ends that. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	14. Author's Note 1

**Author's Note: **

**Right. Most of you were probably expecting a story chapter when you were notified of the update, but I'm sorry to disappoint.**

**Truth of the matter is, I'm eighty percent done with the next chapter … and I hate it. It's so frigging bad.**

**The worst part is, I'm fairly certain that the chapter in question is very necessary. Like very necessary, but at the same time, the very idea of the chapter is too generic, too lackluster. And as far as I have written it, the characters are OOC, OP and just feel plain wrong.**

**This was the main reason I didn't want to write this side of Aincrad so quickly, and leave it for, say, a side-story once I'm through with the rest of the Aincrad arc. And then suddenly it became pretty damn important what with Floor 52.**

**Apex85: I know, it doesn't make **_**that **_**much sense right now, but then again, are things ever fully explained right at the beginning of the story? What I can promise is, all of that will be explained by the time the 52****nd**** floor story comes around.**

**I'm part considering leaving the Argo/Ise story aside for now, but that'll cause me too many problems later. So I'm sorry to say, the next chapter will have to wait another five or so days while I work my ass off on it.**

**With many apologies, Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	15. Chapter Twelve: Dragon and Rat III

**Before I even begin this chapter, I am going to get down on my knees and apologize, because no matter what I do, this chapter still feels so **_**wrong. **_**Characters are OOC, plus I seem to be on a one-way trip to Suetopia.**

**What annoys me most is that this chapter is necessary to **_**avoid **_**sending one of the characters to Suetopia. What also annoys me is the highly optimistic tone of this chapter and the next.**

**So for this chapter, to those kind people who will take their time to review it, may I request absolute, brutal honesty? If it's okay, tell me it's okay. If it's definitely not okay, tell me outright where, when and how.**

**Imperial warlord: Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry about that, but I needed time … which, unfortunately, only helped just a bit.**

**I hope that by the time I end this chapter, I can explain some of the OOCness…**

**And once again, I apologize, and ask that you all please bear with me because I'm sure that the parts afterwards will be better.**

**Without further ado, let's go on to the chapter.**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or DxD any more than chicken fries are made of beef.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Twelve: Dragon and Rat III – Genryuu**

**[Aincrad 5****th**** floor, Fallcopse. Floors cleared: 10]**

Arriving on the fifth floor for the first time, I didn't expect to get dragged into a rescue mission almost straight away.

But more on that later.

I walked out of the warp gate into the Inner Area of Fallcopse, and the first thing that struck me was its uniqueness.

Walls made of grey uneven stones made up the perimeter of the town. Pebbled paths from each of the four openings connected in a plus-shape at the warp gate. Beyond those walls was dense forestry.

Inside the walls were small huts and houses, either made of wood or bamboo. A small series of bamboo huts had open fronts displaying selections of items.

Not too many players were walking around here, judging by the lack of green cursors. There were, however, many NPCs dressed up in tribal clothes and accessories. Including at least one Amazon-like girl who caught my attention.

Is it my fault that I looked? She was an NPC anyway, so she wouldn't understand what I said. I entertained the notion that she was like Sairaorg-san, and maybe I could get her to open up.

My not-so-innocent fantasies were interrupted by a cry from near the border.

"Someone please help!"

*~B~*

Reaching the source of the cry I found a small crowd gathered around a young girl with pigtails. Huh, she was pretty cute – okay, now's not the time. That girl was definitely the one crying out for help. She had teary eyes and a desperate expression.

However –

The people gathered around, you could tell at first glance that they weren't the helpful type. The guys that made up the group all had indifferent and not very nice expressions.

"Now, now, what's the matter, missy?" one of those bad-boy type guys spoke up.

"… My – my friend, he–"

"A friend of yours, hmm? Ahh, I see, he got killed, didn't he?" that guy continued to drawl.

"W-what? No, no he's still alive!"

"I understand, I understand. Why don't you come with me and relieve some of that pain, hmm?"

With that he grabbed the girl's arm and began to pull her. "Let go!" the girl cried, trying to shake him off.

She should have seen the harassment window; all she had to do was press yes. But since she was panicked, she probably didn't notice it.

And it went without saying that something like this disgusted me. I walked up to the player grabbing the girl's arm, and tapped his shoulder.

"Hn? And whaddya want? Oh, you want a piece of her too? Get in line, I'm going fir–"

"Count yourself lucky that you're in the Inner Area," I said in a low voice.

Before he could react I punched him straight in his face and knocked him to the ground. A purple flash and a loud noise accompanied the strike.

Inside the Inner Area, it was impossible to damage another player's HP, and therefore impossible to turn your cursor orange by attempting so. It did have an advantage, though – bastards like these could get what they deserved with no risk on my part of becoming orange. And even if they didn't feel pain, impact was something else.

Add to the fact that my attack stat was probably leagues beyond what their defenses could easily handle. They didn't look like players who'd ever fought properly. Neither was I, barring some little experience, but that was different.

"The hell do you think you're doing?!" one of those guys yelled at me.

I ignored him and told the girl. "The harassment window. Click yes and send him to the jail."

"Don't ignore us, dammit!" the same guy roared before swinging his broadsword at me.

Players could not be damaged. Weaponry was a different matter.

Activating Uppercut I crashed my right fist, glowing yellow, into the blade and broke it immediately. It was beginner equipment. I knew since I was considering using one on the first day. I followed up with a kick into his gut with my left leg, and turned my attention towards the other four. The glow from the last impact faded, and each one of them brought out their weapons – a longsword, a spear, an axe and a mace.

Spear Bastard attacked first. I sidestepped the strike, elbowed the spear away and nailed him in his face. Mace Bastard and Axe Bastard tried an overhead attack from either side. I jumped back and let the two idiots smash each other's heads.

Longsword Bastard was careful. He took a stance and his sword glowed blue. He jumped forward at a high speed, sword swinging down diagonally.

I met his attack with Beast Slayer, breaking both his sword and his nose too, if that was in real life.

A red light flashed from the corner of my eye. I turned and saw First Bastard disappear in red light – the girl had sent him to jail.

"Try anything like that in my sight and you'll wish you hadn't!" I said to the guys fallen on the ground.

Around then my anger finally went down. I heard a quiet sob from behind.

"…en, he's not dead. He can't be dead…" the girl cried quietly.

I walked up to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and tried to pull away. "Hey, hey, it's fine now. Tell me what happened."

"… My friend and I, we were i-in the forest, and we got attacked by a m-monster horde. He managed to clear a path for me, t-told me to run but," the girl said, eyes scrunched up with tears, "he hasn't come back yet."

"… I see. And you're sure he's alive?" I asked.

The girl whipped her head up and glared at me. "He's alive!" she shouted. "He's definitely alive! You can't tell me he's dead, I won't accept it!"

I sighed. Geez, if a cute girl like her cried and asked for help, then what was I supposed to do? Part of me was half-hoping that after helping her, she'd get attached to me or something, but I shook that thought out. There was only one thing to do.

"Right, then," I said, meeting her eyes, "can you tell me where you last saw him?"

*~B~*

One thing I learned on this floor was that players could share map data amongst themselves. Even if one player hadn't cleared out a dungeon, if someone else had, they could take that map data from the person who had, and navigate around the dungeon with less risk.

The girl gave me her map data and pointed to an area north of the Inner Area of Fallcopse. It was a pathway full of brambles and broken branches and bushes and shrubs.

"At least make walking through a forest less annoying," I grumbled. "What was the point of making it this realistic?"

I scraped my arm across a thorny bush, and took about 2HP damage. "Really?" I muttered, rolling down my sleeves.

Since that day two or so weeks back on the second floor, I'd been hunting plenty of monsters to get enough money to buy myself some decent equipment. Looking at my thick leather shirt, a new red undershirt and slate-gray trousers, I told myself I had enough. In the case of Martial Arts and Combat Blade, having bulky armor was a big disadvantage. I needed something both light and strong, and I found what I needed when I took a visit to the eighth floor's Inner Area.

I wasn't wearing Combat Blade. I wanted to keep it a secret, so I couldn't really have it equipped at all times. It'd be like carrying around a neon sign going "I HAVE A SECRET SKILL."

It didn't take me too long to find the place where the girl – Rurin, was it? – had last seen her friend. Now all I had to do was ask any male player I saw in that area if their name was Genryuu. Yeah, didn't sound too hard.

When I found the place however, I found an ongoing skirmish. A number of monsters versus someone I knew very well and was completely unrelated to this case.

"Stop spawning, goddamn you!" a swift cloaked girl yelled indignantly.

Yep, none other than information broker Argo the Rat. Two weeks passed without seeing her even once and I finally find her in _another _horde battle three floors up? Not for the first time, I wondered what kind of dangerous life she led.

Also, I was a bit relieved. Since it was Argo, it meant I could equip Combat Blade before joining the fight.

Opening and sifting through my menu quickly, I equipped the leather forearm-guard-and-blade – which wasn't exactly the same as before – and dashed forwards, spearing one Snakeman (a humanoid thing with a snake's head, wearing brownish armor) in the gut. Pulling out the blade I ran past Argo and attacked the five Snakemen behind her.

The blade glowed yellow as I activated Spear Fan, a five-hit skill that was spread in a fan shape. The strikes cracked the armor of four of them, and lopped of the right arm of the fifth. The quarter-second delay held me in place, and when I was free I leaped to the side just in time to avoid a Snakeman impaling me with its two-pronged spear.

Argo clawed its head off, jumping off its torso right before it disappeared, CRITICAL flashing above it, and the claw on each hand went through two more heads like a hot knife through butter. CRITICAL lit up once again – twice again – and landing, Argo activated a Sword Skill. Slashing her claws outwards through one more Snakeman's gut – one of the ones I had damaged with my previous attack – and thrust the claws through the shattering polygons into the exposed stomach of another one that I had damaged earlier.

Wasting no time, I began punching down and stabbing any Snakeman that got near. Unlike what their appearance suggested, they were actually not that strong. From what I knew from the guidebooks in the shops – which, I remembered, were written by the girl fighting alongside me – they were the weakest mob of the fifth floor. I seriously doubted that Genryuu guy had been possibly killed by these.

About two minutes, three Sword Skills and a panicked duck later, it was over. Almost instantly I rounded on Argo. "What the hell was that for?!" I yelled at her.

"And nice to see you to," she responded, deadpan.

"You threw that thing's spear right at me!"

"You ducked didntcha? And the one behind you did die so no harm done-nya."

"What if I didn't duck in time?!"

"Then you'd be dead," she stated. Well thank you for stating the obvious.

I sighed. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"That's supposed to be my question, Pervert."

"You called my name twice before, why can't you just use it normally," I grumbled under my breath. "It's kind of a long story – well no, not really."

*~B~*

Argo couldn't help but get a sense of déjà vu. And she made sure she didn't show the fact that she was, against all her expectations, the smallest fraction happy to see him again.

"So you come up here to the fifth floor, happen to find a girl crying for help and now you're here because of that?" she asked.

"Why do I get the feeling you don't believe me?" he muttered.

"What are your ulterior motives-sa?" Argo asked bluntly.

"To sleep with the girl, what else?" he replied sarcastically. Argo couldn't help laughing at the expression he made.

"Well, didn't expect to see you up here so quickly, Pervert."

"What were you expecting, me flinching in the open spaces of the third floor while in a juggernaut's armor?"

Argo smirked. _He sure has a way of making the atmosphere light, _she thought.

"And anyway, you didn't answer my question yet. What are _you _doing here?" he asked.

"I'll answer that on the way, but right now, don't you have a player to find?"

"Right," he replied, unequipping Combat Blade – which, Argo noticed, looked different.

"Is that a new weapon?" Argo asked curiously, her info-seeker side taking over.

"This? Ivory Reinforcer or something, kind of like an add-on to the thing," he said, glancing down momentarily at the ivory bone-like structure covering the leather parts of Combat Blade. "Anyway, that player I was looking for, he was supposed to be somewhere around here, but well, he's not. You didn't see him by any chance, did you?"

"I was on the other side of this floor until a while back. I was circling the floor around the east, and got here just about a minute before you arrived. So this Genryuu guy probably ran somewhere further while being chased … hmm, if he was being chased, it probably wasn't Snakemen after him."

"I figured as much. So where do you think he is?" he asked.

Argo thought for a bit. "There's a safe area not too far from here. If he managed to come across it, then he should be safe-nya."

"In that case, what are we waiting for?" Ise said, beginning to walk away – only to get pulled back by his collar.

"Not, so, fast," Argo said. "You don't know this area, so this time, _you _follow _me._"

"The last time I did that, you led me through the most grueling walk of my life!" he retorted.

"Oh, come on," she sighed. "It's not like you were actually physically exhausted. Plus I had a good reason-nya."

He shrugged in defeat. "Fine. You lead."

_Messing with him will never get boring, will it? _Argo mused.

*~B~*

Argo pushed aside a branch and walked past, hearing a _thwack _and an "Ow," a second later.

The dense foliage of Fallcopse was nothing like the other floors. Here, it was a very dense forest where you couldn't always see the sky beyond the canopy of the trees. The ground was covered in small plants and shrubs, along with numerous fallen branches and twigs. Fungi grew on the barks of the trees, no two ever seeming the same.

Argo had to admire the sheer level of detail on each and every floor of Aincrad. She then had to wonder just for how long Kayaba Akihiko had been working on this castle; for how long he had known that he would be putting ten thousand lives in danger of death.

The words 'certain death' came to her mind but she swatted them away.

"That extra piece you added to Combat Blade," she said, still walking, "where'd you get it? I don't think Unique Skill equipment is so easily found in shops-sa."

_And if it was, I would've known, _she added to herself.

"Uh, remember that Oxen horde we faced right after leaving the hut?"

"You mean the time when you owning that skill almost killed me?" Argo asked dryly.

"The time when I saved you twice," he replied in the same tone. As if she didn't know that. "I checked my inventory afterwards, and found it with the word NEW tagged beside it."

"Oh, good. Wouldn't want to have nearly died for nothing at all."

"_Please _stop bringing that up for no reason," Ise sighed. "And anyway, again, what were you doing out here?"

"I heard rumors that a new NPC had appeared in the Outer Area of this floor. Of course, as rumors go, they were way too damn imprecise, and I had to scour half this floor with no luck yet-ta."

"New NPC?"

"Yup. He only appeared just a while back, apparently, and I seriously doubt that there's no significance behind it."

"You'd go over an entire floor just to confirm a rumor?" Ise asked, amazed.

Argo turned back, smirking. "I take my job seriously, Pervert. I've also got a reputation to keep-na. 'If you want to know something, The Rat's who you go to.' It's my job to make sure any info going around is correct or not."

"Lot of effort to spend on one rumor," Ise wondered aloud.

"Misinformation kills, especially in this game," Argo said. "Enough about me, I wanna know how many times you ran for your life in the past two weeks."

"Zero," he stated simply. "Well, there was that one time with the Elves on the third floor…"

"…What did you do-nya?"

"Is it my fault that I mistook one of them for a player?"

Argo required all of her mental control to not burst out laughing at what she knew Ise had probably tried to do. "There's something called a cursor. Look up if you want to know what it is." _Though what did he do to make an _NPC _angry enough to chase him? Elves don't attack unless attacked first._

"Ah, shut up," he retorted.

Argo let a single giggle escape. Noticing where they were, she stopped. "We're here," she said.

The two of them walked past the bushes – and almost lost their heads. Literally.

"Sorry!" a voice yelled. "I thought you were another monster!"

Argo and Ise stood in place, watching the black whip that lay innocently five feet away from them.

"Sorry!" the voice said again. They looked up to find a sandy-haired boy right in the middle of the clearing they had come upon.

"Hey, you wouldn't by any chance happen to be Genryuu, would you?" Ise asked.

"Uh, yeah, I am. Who're you?" the boy said, turning a questioning gaze on the two of them.

"I'm Ise and she's Argo. Your friend was crying her eyes out back in the Inner Area, you know."

Genryuu grimaced at that. "Damn. Just my luck that I can't get back from here."

"Hah? What's that mea – Argo? Oi, Argo?"

Argo wasn't paying attention to him. She was instead looking at the figure standing beyond Genryuu. "That's him, isn't it?" Argo asked Genryuu. "The NPC everyone's been talking about-ta."

An old man in a tribal get-up stood silently at the edge of the clearing. A wolf-skin was draped around his neck like a cape, and he held a misshapen wooden staff in one hand. Under his left hand, on the fur belt was a curved bone knife. And above his head was a single exclamation mark.

Unlike normal quest marks, this one was silver instead of gold.

"Yeah, that's the NPC – eh?" Genryuu said, suddenly confused.

"What?" Ise asked.

"That exclamation mark wasn't there before," he said.

This made Argo even more curious. _A silver exclamation mark and it only appeared once we got here? Does it need a set number of players around to activate? _She pondered.

Unbeknownst to her, Ise had reached his own conclusion as to why the NPC's quest mark had only just appeared.

"Hey," Ise asked, suddenly serious, his tone surprising Argo. "Why is it you can't leave again?"

"Every time I try to leave, a horde appears," Genryuu said. "Dammit, I need to get back soon. Can't have her crying any longer."

Ise looked deep in thought. "Argo?" he suddenly said.

"What is it-nya?"

"Get ready for another tough battle," he said, before moving towards Genryuu. "You too. One player might not have been enough but three should be."

"Ise, what's with the sudden seriousness?" Argo asked.

"I might have some idea about all this, but first we need to finish off our own little quest."

"Quest?" Genryuu echoed. "Oh, right, you probably wouldn't just walk in here to save someone without your own agenda."

Ise smiled slightly. "I meant the quest from your friend. Answer one question for me, would ya? What were the monsters that attacked?"

"I don't know. Whatever they were, they weren't in the guidebook – hey wait a minute, did you say her name was Argo?"

A suspicion finally rooted in Argo's mind. "Pervert, you don't think…"

He grimaced guiltily. "It's the best I can think of. Explains most things, doesn't it?" Ise opened his inventory, and equipped Combat Blade.

"Haven't seen a weapon like that yet," Genryuu commented.

"Argo, how high is your speed?" Ise asked.

_Stupid Pervert is one thing, but Serious Pervert is starting to creep me out, _Argo thought to herself as she answered, "Pretty high. Nowhere as high as Asu-chan's, but good enough."

"Step out of the safe area, and as soon as the monster spawns, step back inside. Genryuu, keep your whip at the ready, attack it as soon as it appears. We'll make a run for it then."

"Did you miss the part where he said 'horde of monsters,' Pervert?" Argo questioned. "If your plan is to run, why attract the monster in the first place?"

"To find out what it is before it's too late," Ise replied, catching Argo off-guard. Her impression of Ise was that he was an all-around idiotic pervert, nothing else.

"Hey, wait a minute," Argo said, a thought striking her, "What about the NPC?"

"We can come back for that later, but right now, I've got a job to do."

_Yeah, Serious Mode is seriously creeping me out._

Argo didn't bother laughing at the stupid pun she had involuntarily made either. She looked at Ise, in position, and Genryuu, whip at the ready, before turning towards the bush and looking down.

Safe areas were always marked distinctively, and always by something that wouldn't seem too out of place.

Here, there was a line of soil with no grass growing on it like inside the clearing. Argo took a breath, steeled herself, and then put one foot out of the line.

She jumped back at immense speed as soon as a large jaw bit into where she had been just a moment before.

The black whip cracked and glowed deep purple as it made contact with the snout of whatever it was. The blow sent it howling back into the trees.

"Run!" Ise shouted, dashing forward.

Almost immediately, his plan went down in smoke.

Twenty-four monsters pounced towards him as he skidded to a halt and sprung back just in time to avoid having his leg become their lunch. The ones still in the air were whipped away as Genryuu swung it around once more, but this time they didn't retreat. This time they circled around the clearing, growling and snapping their jaws.

The most apt word to describe them would be 'Werewolf.' They were covered in dark grey fur, and wore forest-green trousers. Three inch claws extended from their fingers, and six-inch nails extended from their feet. The furry tail was tipped with a scorpion-like stinger. The head comprised of large jaws, menacingly big teeth and feral bloodshot eyes.

The name Copse Wolf appeared in Argo's vision. A faint headache began to throb at the back of her skull.

_Jaws soft inside. Sensitive to loud noise. Weak point between the legs._

Argo choked down on her laughter. _Seriously? _Even if she didn't know how she knew, she trusted whatever her mind told her.

"Hit'em in the groin," she told Ise.

"What?" he said.

"Groin, jaws, make loud noises."

"You know, I never asked, but just how do you know–"

"Believe me, Pervert, I'd like to know how myself."

"Are you guys seriously considering taking all of them on?!" Genryuu cried.

"Yeah, I am-nya. Why?"

"There's over twenty of them!"

"So?" Argo asked.

That simple response seemed to stump Genryuu completely. "You guys are insane," he muttered, moving back a step. "I'll use my whip to hit them from above. In the jaws, right? Try not to jump too much, I don't wanna turn yellow."

Soon, the attack began.

*~B~*

Truth be told, Genryuu was downright terrified. They were outnumbered eight to one, and yet the two newcomers seemed completely calm.

And when the Wolves attacked from all sides, he was sure he was a goner.

_Get a grip, already. Ruruko is waiting back in the Inner Area. Are you gonna make her cry any longer?_

It was that thought that gave him the resolve to crack the whip in a full circle, swatting away most of the pouncing Wolves in one blow. One of them was right under the swing and jumped straight onto him. Using his left hand, he drew the small dagger at his waist and struck it right where it hurt.

"You two keep the ones in front busy!" he yelled over his shoulder. "I'll take the ones behind!"

"Got it! Don't die out on me!" the guy named Ise shouted back.

Genryuu grinned at that. He had the feeling he and Ise could be pretty good friends.

Genryuu may have been chased down to near death by the Wolves, but that didn't mean he was inexperienced. Two months in a death game had that kind of effect on you: you either learned how to survive, or you didn't survive.

Sheathing the dagger, he watched carefully as two of the Wolves – the ones with the gleaming red gashes on their snouts – snarled at him and bent their knees. Reaching his hand back, he grabbed four items from the back of his belt.

The two wolves leaped, and four throwing picks zoomed through the air, straight into their gaping mouths. They howled in pain and hastily retreated, the word CRITICAL floating above them.

From the very first day of the game, Genryuu had decided what method he was going to use to survive. From the very start he decided which skills he would spend all his points on, and worked hard to reach that level.

Most players decided on a set revolving around either power or speed. Either one could overpower the opponent, or outspeed it. It was only after tank players were necessary that players began converting, turning all their stat points towards what was needed to beat the game.

Genryuu did not think himself brave enough to face boss-level monsters. So he decided that while he wouldn't just sit around waiting for others to free him, he would also choose in what area he wanted to be strong in.

He decided to forego both power and speed, and focus instead on technique. Sneak attacks and strikes from long range. While keeping himself just out of harm's reach, he would simultaneously extend his range to be able to fight from a distance.

Deciding that his entire survival scheme depended upon his wit and skill, he chose to raise his ATT and END stats to only average levels. Instead, he focused on raising DEX and INT as far as possible, allowing his in-game avatar more freedom of movement. He chose the long whip as his weapon, a large set of varied throwing picks, and a short dagger for last resorts at close range.

With his high stats in those respective areas, and his skill tree trained in those respective areas, he was able to make accurate and deadly strikes from a distance.

Before Argo the Rat and Ise had arrived, he had not known the weaknesses of these monsters. Now that Argo had told him what they were, he focused everything he had on surviving the current battle.

The whip lashed past the other two, knocking back the monsters when they got too close. Throwing picks flew every other second and made the word CRITICAL light up every now and then – although that only accounted for a fraction of the times it appeared.

Genryuu knew Argo as a merchant of information, so he did not really think she would be a great fighter. He now remembered that she was also a supposed beta tester, and was seeing firsthand her skill at combat.

However, what he was seeing felt far too unreal. In fact, it was easier to count when Argo did _not _land a critical hit. The red words swarmed around the area, almost making it hard to see the monsters through them.

It couldn't only be Argo's high AGI that helped her zoom through the monsters, dodging and hitting as necessary. Genryuu realized that Argo had probably also invested quite a lot in her LUK stat.

Ise was another story altogether. Each and every one of his attacks was dealing significantly more damage than either Genryuu or Argo when not landing a critical. Of course, it was easy to see how he was dealing that much damage, but that raised another question altogether.

Two Wolves leapt at Ise from either side. He turned to face them, left arm raised, blade glowing yellow, and then slashed twice, forming an X-shape. While they were stunned, Genryuu took the chance to lash his whip at them, knocking them back just as Ise used yet another skill to blast away a third Wolf on his right.

It shouldn't have been possible, but here they were, two anomalous players fighting alongside him. _One of them has extremely high attack, and seems to have almost negligible skill delays, while the other is finding it hard _not _to land a critical hit. Man, I feel out of place, _Genryuu grumbled internally.

And even then, something was off.

"Geez, why aren't they dying already?" Argo complained.

After all the damage they had been dealt through two minutes of battling, the HP of the front Wolves were still above the yellow mark.

"High defenses?" Ise asked.

"Maybe, I really dunno," Argo replied, frowning. "But for something that's just a field spawn, why does it have this much HP remaining after all those attacks?"

"So do we just keep at it then, till either they run out or we do?" Genryuu said.

Both of them turned to him. "Way to make things depressing, Gen-kun," Argo commented.

"And you get his name right on the first go?" Ise asked.

"Shut it, Pervert."

An idea finally struck Genryuu. _Extremes, _he thought. What if Ise and Argo weren't the only extremes in the immediate area?

"Maybe it's not defense," he thought out loud. "If it was, they would've gotten at least–" he broke off, snapping the whip at a leaping wolf and immobilizing it.

"At least somewhat more damage," he continued, reading a couple of throwing picks. "What if they have ridiculously high HP instead?"

Ise frowned in thought. "That actually makes sense… Argo? The things on the second floor, didn't they have–"

"Ridiculously high attack? Yup," she answered. "Previously unknown monsters, which spawn under, um, certain requirements, and have extreme stats in one area. It does actually make sense-sa."

"Aw, man. Hey, Genryuu? Since this might be my fault, I'll say sorry now," the brown-haired powerhouse told Genryuu.

"What do you mean, you–"

"Incoming!" Argo shouted, jumping and kicking off Ise's shoulders and dug her claws into another leaping Wolf, slamming it into the ground. Without wasting time, she jumped up towards another one, ripping into its torso in a wild flurry of slashes.

"New plan-nya!" Argo yelled as she moved out of range of more approaching monsters. "Take 'em out one by one!"

"Are you insane?! We'll get destroyed before that happens!" Genryuu cried.

"Keep hitting them away! You don't need to do much damage, just repel or immobilize them! Pervert and I will take care of the damaging!"

*~B~*

Twenty minutes and around ten potions later all the monsters were finally gone, and Argo was nearly about to whack Ise again, before realizing that she couldn't afford to turn her cursor yellow. She settled for saying, "How is it possible for you alone to use up just about all the potions we had combined?"

"… Well, what do you want me to say?" Ise asked sheepishly.

"That you'll at least try and avoid some attacks-sa!"

"Hey, it's not like I didn't avoid anything! It's just that I have low defenses!"

"Then why the heck didntcha train your defense stat at all?!"

"I prefer attacking all-out!"

"Doesn't mean that you can just ignore training your defense!"

"Uh, guys?" Genryuu said, trying not to laugh, "Can you save the argument for after we get back?"

"…You know what? Yeah, I'll leave it till after we get back," Argo said.

She passed Genryuu and continued walking. Ise came up to him and whispered, "Remind me to make a run for it once we get back."

*~B~*

For me, just seeing that girl jump at Genryuu in joy was enough of a reward for the unofficial quest.

I mean, come on, who wouldn't be a bit glad after seeing something like that?

On a side note, Argo let me off with saying, "Get your defense stat up as soon as possible."

The four of us were currently in one of the restaurant shacks of Fallcopse. Rurin was reprimanding Genryuu for, as she put it, "running off with a dozen monsters on your trail with no idea if you'd survive or not." Argo looked bored, her eyes scanning over the other customers, while I tried to find some other cute girls. I think I'm sounding like a stalker of sorts.

"By the way," Argo spoke up, turning her head towards me, "since when did you have a creepily serious side?"

"Eh?" I said stupidly.

She sighed. "Never mind. You're the same as always.

"Well, I guess Sairaorg-san taught me to be alert when in situations like that."

"I'll tell you this: I still don't trust that guy-o."

This time it was my turn to sigh. "You know, he really does want out of here, just like the rest of us. And by the way, why do you look so downcast?"

"That's cause I didn't get to do what I came down here to do. We haven't found out why that NPC appears, other than the fact that for some reason, a safe area got attacked by monsters."

"Maybe that was because Combat Blade was there," I thought out aloud.

"For once, the idiot might be right."

"I'm still here you know, no need to insult me every other sentence."

"And? Did you get it?" she asked.

"Get what?"

"The item you'd get after beating them. Those damned Oxen on the second floor gave something, right?"

Now that she mentioned it, I didn't really check my inventory after beating all those monsters. Opening it, I found an item with the NEW tag on it, which I then equipped.

Combat Blade got covered in a grey coat of fur. Fur Coating, it was called. Wow, such a creative name.

I noticed some numbers change at the corner of my vision. My HP had gone up by a bit.

"Seven monster swarms," Argo said suddenly. "Seven monsters, seven extremes, seven upgrades. Sounds likely, doesn't it?"

There were seven stats that you could train in Sword Art Online: ATT, END, VIT, AGI, DEX, INT and LUK. The previous upgrade from the Rampage Oxen increased the weapon's Durability, along with giving my ATT stat a boost. The new one added a bit to my HP. Going by that logic, wouldn't it mean there'd be seven such stupidly extreme monster swarms altogether?

"Wait a minute," I said, a thought suddenly coming to me, "It's only been five floors, and I've already gotten two. Then there's that NPC we left behind, who's quest mark lit up after we got there… Looks like at this rate I might have all seven even before the twentieth floor."

"Do you really think that it'll end with just the first seven? This is a game, obviously there will be more afterwards of each type."

She had a point there, I guess. Around then, Rurin had finally finished laying down the law for Genryuu.

"So, do you understand?" Rurin demanded.

"Yeah, yeah, for the seventeenth time, yeah," Genryuu sighed.

"Good," she smiled, and then turned to us. "Ise-san, Argo-san, thank you so much for helping us out."

"Don't mention it," I said, grinning back, "just happy to help."

"Still, it's thanks to your strength that he came back in one piece."

Yeah, now I was getting a bit embarrassed. It wasn't really every day you were thanked this honestly for saving someone's life.

"By the way, you two," Genryuu asked us, "are you gonna go back to find out why that nuisance of an NPC appeared there?"

Argo answered before I could speak. "Of course. No way in hell am I leaving empty-handed after coming all the way here."

That was expected at least. "Guess you also want to go as soon as possible too, don't you?" I asked.

"Right now, unless you're not up for it."

"Hold on," Genryuu said. "Once you get back, I'm treating you guys."

Argo raised an eyebrow at that. "Least I can do, though it might not have that much value, being virtual and all," Genryuu continued.

For a second, Argo didn't say anything. Then she smiled and said, "Sure."

I got the feeling that it wasn't every day when she got an offer like that. Five minutes later we left to find out what other annoyances the game was going to cook up for my Combat Blade.

*~B~*

"… They're pretty strong, aren't they, Gen?"

"Yeah. That guy, Ise, almost made me doubt my choice as a long-range type player. Plus that Extra Skill of his… There's gotta be a reason why he told me to keep it a secret."

"If he wants it to stay a secret, then you should let it stay a secret, no matter how curious you are. If it's something unique, imagine what other people would do if they found out."

"You know, I've known you my entire life, and even now you manage to surprise me sometimes."

"Sometimes you do too with your knuckle-headedness."

"You're still mad about that?"

"If it wasn't for those two, you'd have never come back."

"Ah, come on, don't worry that much."

"Saji Genshirou, you are always going to make me worry."

*~B~*

Argo kept a straight face as she walked alongside Ise back towards the field, but inside she wasn't sure just how happy she was at the moment.

_Just how many years has it been since somebody's invited me to eat with them? … This was the first time in my life, wasn't it?_

She shook her head before her thoughts could go grim again, making Ise look at her curiously. Uttering a quick "Nothing," she sped up slightly.

Her real life situation did not matter. At least here in Aincrad, she had friends.

_Kii-bou and Asu-chan, Gen-kun and Rurin … even Ise._

"Oi Argo, slow down!" Ise called from behind.

"Catch up if you can!" she replied cheerfully.

To her, Aincrad was a significantly better life than her reality.

_As much as I want to go back, it's _there _I'm going back to … No. Once I get back, I'm gonna find them again, and finally leave my old life behind._

Smiling, Argo began to run, her resolve to help clear the game stronger than before.

*~B~*

**Why is Ise's POV so damn hard to write believably? Is it because of the not-that-good translation of the novels?**

**Either way, due to that, I can't seem to get a good grasp of his character beyond his trademarks, which make it seem like I'm Flanderizing him. Gah.**

**What I can explain: Serious!SomewhatSmarter!Ise is the result of the time spent with Sairaorg on the second floor, and from the impression he has of Kirito. Ise, while remaining Ise, is looking to those two as role models, which leads to a decrease in his present perverseness.**

**I haven't yet gotten a chance to fully implement my version of Argo, but at least I managed to hint at it near the end. She too, seems OOC, but maybe that's because of the recent lack of her "That'll be _ Col" lines. Argo, while barely used in canon, is one of my favorite characters to write about because it's **_**due **_**to the fact that so little is given that so much more can be done with her. And as to whatever her backstory is … yeah, you'll find out soon.**

**And there appears Saji Genshirou and Nimura Ruruko! That seemed out of the blue, didn't it? Well, the main reason I added those two is to make Ise less OP, and to balance out the two groups. On one side we have Kirito, Asuna, Klein and Kiba: three SAO and one DxD. On the other side we have Ise, Argo, Saji (Genryuu) and Nimura (Rurin): one SAO, three DxD. While I'm still not sure how much I can do with Saji, I've got a whole chapter planned for Ruruko. Actually, it's a plan of a plan, really. And I also made them childhood friends, well, because. I like using side-characters as mains/semi-mains.**

**The battle scene that I skipped … yeah, I know, but I seemed to have been hit with a lack of inspiration over the last few days. This chapter was also one of those where you have a semi-important point you want to introduce, and you have tons of ideas on what to do **_**next, **_**but squat on how to fill that gap. As a result, something that I feel is a bit lackluster came out.**

**This ends this chapter, which had an overall optimistic tone. The next chapter will be similar, but if you know how I work, then you know that the chapter after that is not gonna be a bright one.**

**And I think I should probably start using actual timestamps rather than [Aincrad Floor such-and-such. Floors cleared: x]**

**That's that, and now this chapter ends. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	16. Chapter Thirteen: Dragon and Rat IV

**Don't you all hate it when you have all the ideas in the world when you're away from the computer, but when you sit down to type them, they all go POOF! It gets annoying after a while.**

**Especially right after you've seen one of the greatest anime ever created, and you're brain refuses to think about anything else. Yeah, after four years of my internet giving out on me when I tried to get it, I finally managed to watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I marathoned it three times over and I still can't get enough. Add to that my eyes are now tired after the continuous watching, and I don't feel like typing anything. Ah, well, have to write sometime don't I? Excuse me while I take an hour's break.**

***Rests to little avail***

**And I'm back. Review reply time:**

**Guest: Last I checked, knowledge of weak points has nothing to do with Maou Shoujo Levi-tan. While that may have been an interesting idea, nope, they're not the same person. I already confirmed that Serafall was an Extra Prisoner, not a player. It would throw just about all my plans for future story arcs for a loop, and it would also be a waste of a perfectly good character.**

**Vld: Well … actually, it doesn't matter. There's a full hundred Extras, and I can't really put emphasis on all of them. This guy being normal or live doesn't really matter much. And the appearance had to do with Combat Blade, as implied.**

**reality deviant: That is a hell lot of questions. Yeah, the viewpoint will change. This chapter is another Ise/Argo chapter, but next one will be a Kirito chapter. Like stated above, it doesn't really matter if the new NPC is normal or not. Reconciliation, yeah, it's gonna be interesting, and I already have a plan. And I don't have any more Unique Skill plans for the rest of the Aincrad arc. Dual Blades, Combat Blade and Holy Sword are more than enough. Actually, I did have plans for another, which I scrapped, then another, which I also scrapped, the first being an OC character who was too much of a Mary Sue, and the second being pointless, really. Actually, the second Unique Skill is still under consideration, but I'm pretty sure at this point that I won't use it.**

**ArmorOfGeddon: Once again, thank you, because that is exactly the kind of review I needed. Combat Blade actually does have one significant tradeoff, but I couldn't put it in yet due to the fact that this chapter is the first chance I got for focusing on Argo and Ise. As for the rest, yeah, things are gonna change.**

**chins4tw: You may be right, but I had to try. Now, I've got a clearer idea on how to use him properly, without most of the irredeemable perverseness.**

**That was a lot. Anyway, thanks again to all the reviewers, and without further ado, onwards, ho!**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own DxD or SAO any more than Simon the Digger has cowardice. By the end of the story, that is.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Thirteen: Dragon and Rat IV – Change**

The rapid monster spawns were beginning to annoy Argo, but not as much as Ise's tendency to attack recklessly.

Snakemen were attacking from left and right, and while Argo much preferred to proceed carefully, the pervert she happened to be partied with was fighting like a berserker. She was pretty sure the only reason he was doing well was because of his stat dump in attack.

That, however, gave him a staggering weakness in his defense, and that was what she was having to take care of. While he attacked with almost insane carelessness, she was having to weave in and push back any Snakemen that got near.

_If it was something like those Wolves from back then, he'd be dead five times over … oh, wait, that's six now, _she thought, irritated, as she dug her claws into the armor of another Snakeman that was about to land an attack on him.

This continued for another five minutes, and Argo had to spend one more potion to heal Ise's HP, before it finally ended.

"The next time you level up and onwards, you're putting everything in defense, got that?" Argo said irritably.

"Yes, ma'am," Ise replied, smirking slightly.

_**~Ten minutes ago~**_

"So it really is another Combat Blade quest, huh?" Ise said.

They had just talked to the NPC that had appeared in that secluded safe area of Fallcopse. After a somewhat clichéd story of "The Snakeman King terrorizing local villages," Argo and Ise finally had a direction to go to.

What Argo should have probably expected, was that since they were going to fight an upgraded mob, there would be massive swarms on the way.

"Guess so," Argo replied, walking ahead of him after they'd left the NPC behind. "All this trouble for one Unique Skill, huh?" she said in a low voice, which Ise heard.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to come along to see what that NPC wanted."

"I know. But even for something like a Unique Skill, isn't it a bit much?"

"Maybe. Well, the faster this is finished, the less people will have to worry–"

Argo heard him pause, and stopped to turn around, and saw Ise standing still with a guilty expression.

"What is it?" she asked.

"… Nothing. It's nothing," he said, picking up pace and hurrying past Argo.

"Hey, wait up!" Argo called, trying to catch up. _What's gotten into him all of a sudden?_

It was around then that the first few Snakemen appeared. Every time one died, two more seemed to spawn in its place: that was how quickly they were spawning.

_**~Present Time**_~

"Now then, can you tell me what's gotten into you?" Argo demanded.

The small smirk disappeared from Ise's face as he turned his head away. "Like I said, it's nothing. As long as we finish this fast, it doesn't matter."

"Pervert, just say it already."

"I told you, it doesn't matter!"

"Ise."

Ise paused, and then sighed. "How long has the rumor of the new NPC been going on?"

"Quite a while now, why?" Argo replied, confused.

"And how many players do you think went looking, and possibly got trapped in the same situation Genryuu did?"

Argo realized just what was bothering him. "You didn't know, there wasn't anything you could've–"

"There was! If I hadn't spent so much time loitering around the lower floors, I could've prevented anyone from… from…"

"You don't know if anyone actually died, Ise," Argo said kindly. "Don't beat yourself over it."

"I can still want to hurry through all the rest, can't I?" he said. "If I can finish the rest as fast as I can, less people will have to be in danger."

"This is a death game anyway, there's always danger. There's nothing wrong with wanting to prevent unnecessary deaths, but don't stress yourself over it-nya."

Ise seemed to relax slightly after those words. "Guess you can actually be nicer when you want to, huh?" he said, the corners of his lips tugging upwards.

"Don't get used to it. Besides, if the next few upgrades are quest-oriented, then you don't really have to worry about any more monster swarms."

"'If,'" he repeated.

"Right, that's enough," Argo commanded. "We have a quest to worry about at present, so leave the rest aside. You can worry about those after you've finished this one."

"Guess so," he said, straightening up. "Thanks, Argo."

Argo paused momentarily, and then replied, "You're not likely to hear many more words of comfort from me. Let's get going."

Argo led the way once again, Ise trailing behind, and once again, Argo was deep in thought.

_Well, this is a day of firsts, _she mused. _First I get invited to eat with someone, and then someone actually says thanks this honestly … _

Repressed memories once again assaulted her, and this time, she couldn't hold them back.

_**~Six Years Ago~**_

_A seven-year-old girl wandered the streets, skulking through dark alleys, avoiding contact with anyone in her vicinity. She arrived at a small park and silently walked into it._

"_Hotdogs at half price! Hotdogs at half price!" a voice shouted. The girl turned towards a small stall, where a few foreigners were gathered, buying food._

_The smell wafted towards her, and her stomach growled violently._

_Touching her belly below her tattered clothes and makeshift cloak, the girl stood and stared at the stall. Making up her mind, she began to walk stealthily around the edges of the park, approaching the stall from behind._

_**~Present~**_

"Oi, Argo, stop!"

Ise's voice shook her out of her reverie, and Argo looked down just in time to see a roaring river, her foot poised above it. She drew back hurriedly and bumped into Ise.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Ise asked.

"… Just lost in thought, I guess," she replied vaguely.

"Find somewhere else to be lost in thought, preferably a place where you won't step into a fast river."

Argo snickered, and then said, "Sorry about that-ta."

Sadly, the two of them would still be going into the river, one way or another.

Something jumped out of the surrounding trees and slammed into Argo, pushing her over and jumping out of sight again. Argo fell backwards, turning her head to see an approaching wall of running water.

"Oh, f–" she managed before smashing into the river, the force of it disorienting her, and bringing back the flashbacks.

_**~Flashback Continued~**_

"_Hey, kid, the hell do you think you're doing?"_

_She'd been spotted. A rough hand pulled the hotdog out of her grasp and pulled her back by the collar. The girl fell back onto the ground, coughing._

"_Ah, thanks, mister. Really, can't people do something about these vagrant kids? Stealing stuff from people who work hard for their living."_

"_Don't mention it. I just recognized her from before."_

_At those words, the girl looked up at her assailant. She did know him: the man from whose small store she had obtained her last set of clothes. The two men returned her stare, until the stall-owner looked away._

"_Now that's creepy. It feels like she's staring right though me."_

"_I know, right? Anyway, I'm buying this one."_

"_You're buying it for her?"_

"_No, for myself. Her, I'm going to take to an orphanage I know."_

_Strong and rough hands grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her up. "Let go!" the girl protested weakly._

"_Quiet, kid. I'm doing you a favor."_

"_Let go! I don't want to go anywhere!"_

"_I said be quiet! The only reason I'm helping you is so that you stop bothering other decent people. Akayama Orphanage will set you straight."_

_Dread washed over the girl at that name. "No… please…" she whispered, but the man ignored her._

'_Not there. Anywhere but there.'_

_**~Present~**_

I stood surprised as whatever-it-was came out of the trees and pushed Argo into the river. The monster disappeared as fast as it appeared.

I didn't have time to waste. I stopped thinking, and ran towards the river, jumping in after her.

I held my breath and looked around, and saw her drifting off in the current, trying to fight against it. Surfacing, I let the current drag me along, swimming with it as I tried to near her.

"Argo! Hold out your arm!" I yelled. She didn't seem to hear me over the rest of the noise of the river. "Argo!"

She turned back, saw me and her eyes widened slightly. "Your hand, dammit! Gimme your hand!"

She stretched out her arm, and just then, something else broke the surface. A large, large-toothed sinister-looking fish flew out of the water – cutting straight through her right arm.

Argo yelped in shock as I noticed about a third of her HP vanish. The fish was falling straight towards me, jaws open. I thrust my left arm upwards, and the blade went straight into the mouth of the Copse Piranha and out through its tail. Not bothering to look at it shatter, I swam forward, harder, finally reaching Argo and grabbing hold of her with my left arm. I held her close against me as I tried to fight back at the current.

"Up ahead!" Argo said, making me turn forwards. The river tilted downwards further down, and I could clearly see the pile of large boulders against which it crashed and foamed before sharply splitting around it.

**[AN: Yeah, I know, I said waterfall back on the last chapter of Floor 11, but that made zero sense. A thousand apologies about that, and I'm gonna change that as well]**

For a brief second, an image of black rhinos appeared in my vision, and I felt myself freeze up. Immediately, I kicked myself. I couldn't waste time being afraid here.

I looked around hurriedly, searching for something I could grab onto. I noticed a tree trunk at the bank of the river. It was too thick to grab, but I didn't need to grab it.

"Open Combat Blade!" I shouted at Argo.

"What?!"

"Take it off and throw it at my right hand!"

Argo looked as though she thought I was crazy, although she probably thought that all the time. She complied, however, opening the straps below my forearm.

"See that tree ahead?!" I asked her. She nodded. "When I say now, stab your claw into it as hard as you can. First, give the blade!"

She threw my weapon, and I barely caught it by the edge, luckily enough in a way that didn't damage me. Holding it sideways, I bent my elbow, and Argo folded her left arm back.

I counted down mentally. Three … two … one …

"NOW!"

Two arms shot towards the tree and dug into it. I felt my body get jolted sharply, as the two of us hit the bank of the river. I pushed Argo up onto the bank, just as Combat Blade broke through the wood.

If it was in the real world, then I might have horribly injured my hand. I grabbed onto the bank with my left hand, the force of the river making it dig through the soil. Normally I would've wondered at the detail that this game had, but a near-death situation kind of made you stop wondering.

Right before I hit the rocks I managed to drag myself up out of the river and rolled away from it. After a couple seconds I came to a stop. I felt my heart beating like a rapid drum, and panted even though I didn't need to here.

For some strange reason, I wondered what the people at the hospital were thinking, seeing my real body possibly breathing heavily and my heart going on a rampage.

"Ise! Ise!"

I groaned, but didn't reply.

"Dammit, Pervert, answer me!"

"I'm fine!" I said, getting up onto my elbows. I then noticed the red damage effects on my left hand, and my HP which was in the lowest of yellow. "What about you?"

"That was an absolutely stupid thing to do!" she shouted at my face. "Why the hell did you jump in after me?!"

"You know, I did just save you. Again," I grumbled.

"Yeah, but this time, both of us could have died! There was no guarantee that you'd be able to help me out!"

"So I was supposed to just stand and watch?" I demanded, getting angry. "Like hell I'd do that! You can't tell me to just stand and do nothing when there was something that I could do!"

Argo stopped completely, looking utterly dumbstruck. "You … you're afraid of dying, aren't you?"

"Course I am! But that's no reason not to try and save someone when they're in trouble! Just what do you take me for?"

Argo didn't speak for a long time. The two of us remained in those positions, silently looking at each other. Finally Argo looked away, and spoke, "… That was still a very stupid thing to do," she said quietly.

"You know me, always an idiot," I said, calming down.

Argo sat down beside me, far from the bank, still not looking at me, her right arm still missing. "That does come back, right?" I asked.

"It'll take ten minutes or so, but it'll heal," she said shortly.

We were both silent again, as I didn't know what to say and she wasn't looking at me. I really didn't understand how and why I'd made her mad. I mean, I'd just saved her from being smashed against boulders, didn't I? So why was she so angry about it?

Suddenly, she looked up. She made a motion with her left pointer, and opened her menu. She clicked something and a message box appeared.

I looked away to give her some privacy. I wasn't the type who would read someone else's messages. I heard sounds of typing for a while, and then a confirmation beep, before I turned back.

Argo still had her window open, hand over an option. She seemed to be hesitating about something. Finally, she took a breath and clicked a few things. This time, a window appeared in my vision.

_Argo _has requested to add you as a friend. Do you accept? [YES] [NO]

I turned towards her with a questioning look but she stopped me before I could say anything. "Shut up and click yes-sa."

Still confused, I pressed [YES] a confirmation window appeared in front of Argo and disappeared after a while.

"I'm only going to say this once: thank you," she said.

"Huh?"

"You just have to make me repeat it, do you? I said, thank you for saving my life."

"Is that really so hard to say?"

"To an idiot like you, yeah."

Okay, fine. Maybe I was that much of an idiot. Geez. "And the friend-list add?"

"I've got everyone else I talk to on the list, so adding you as well wouldn't hurt."

"And you're still set on indirectly insulting me every other sentence," I muttered. Really, where'd that kinder side of hers a few minutes ago go?

Argo seemed to have heard me, because then she started laughing. Quietly at first, and then loudly, shoulders shaking. And she calls me crazy?

She wiped a tear out of her eye, and said, "Sorry about that," while still smiling.

"You're not gonna explain that, are you?"

"Nope," she said cheerfully. What was with her rapid mood switches?

"You know," she said. "That Unique Skill of yours is pretty unbelievable."

"Huh?" I said, surprised by the sudden comment.

"A low cooldown time, the versatility of its skills and that ridiculous power. I suppose it's unique for a reason-nya."

"Did that river knock half of your brain out or something?" I asked. "Cause I get the feeling you're suddenly complimenting me."

"Not you, Pervert," she replied, still smirking. "The Unique Skill you just so happen to have is what I'm praising."

I sighed. "Well, you're wrong about one thing: it doesn't have ridiculous power."

Argo looked at me, confused. "Huh?"

"Combat Blade actually has very low power compared to other skill sets."

"You're kidding, right?"

In answer, I opened my menu, and went to the skill tree, and chose One-Handed Longsword, one of the basic skills everyone had. "Look," I said, bringing up Vertical. A few lines of information appeared, along with a bar, divided into ten thin segments. Three of them were lit up in blue. "This is how much power Vertical has. This," I said, switching through Horizontal and Slant, "is how much power all these basic skills have. They're all either three bars or four bars."

"Yeah, and your point?"

I closed One-Handed Longsword, and this time brought up Combat Blade. "Now take a look," I said, selecting one skill after another. Argo's eyes widened as she saw what was given. Yeah, I was surprised at first too. Then I realized, a weapon with short cooldown times couldn't possibly have no large drawbacks to it.

Most of the skills I had unlocked so far were one bar only in power. In fact, Relief Strike showed up on the list as having only half a bar. The strongest skill I had at this point, Spear Fan, was only two bars.

"Wait a minute. Doesn't this mean that …" Argo said, before pausing to think, and then glaring at me again. Can you go back to cheerful mode, please?

"That means that not once, not even _once _did you spend any of your stat points on anything except attack. I'd thought that you'd used even a tiny bit elsewhere, but…"

I clapped my hands together, and tried to bow. I seemed to have forgotten that I was sitting, and that I was using my elbows as support. I fell back and hit my head on the ground. "Ow," I said.

I heard Argo laugh quietly and turned to look, to find her muffling her mirth with her hand. And then I finally got suspicious. "Argo…" I began, getting up again.

Hearing me she finally fell over laughing. That damn girl pretended to be angry and made me fall over trying to apologize!

"You – you damn–" I said, but couldn't find words. She continued to laugh at me, lying on her back and beating her legs against the ground. And for some reason I couldn't remain angry. It was hard to, when she was acting like a little kid.

"Haah, okay," Argo finally said, panting. "Okay, I'm, I'm gonna stop now."

"Did you have to do that?"

"You should've seen your expression when you realized."

I didn't think I'd ever understand this weirdo. And maybe luckily, I didn't have to think about that.

Something appeared in the tree above, and jumped. I got up as quickly as I could and pulled Argo out of the way as it landed right where she was a second ago.

"This thing again!" Argo growled.

I looked at it, noticing that it was some sort of ape with really, really, big arms. Copse Ape appeared above it. Why was everything except the Snakemen here named the same way?

"Ise, let me take this one," Argo said.

"Huh?"

"I still have to pay it back for pushing me unceremoniously into the river."

"It might just do the same again, you know?" I said.

"Oh, shut up," she replied, and didn't hesitate before dashing at the ape.

Argo swung her left arm in a wide arc, trying to slash straight through it, but the Ape jumped up and dodged it, bringing its grotesquely large fist down on where Argo was standing a moment ago. The second the fist touched the ground, a claw found its way into the face of the Ape. It made this weird noise, before punching her back.

"Argo!" I ran forwards to where she'd rolled and stood up. Her HP had just hit yellow. "Hey, you've only got the one arm! The hell are you thinking?"

"And you've got how much HP left?" she asked back. She was right, with my defense I'd probably not have it easy, but –

"Stop being so over-confident, Pervert," she said, seemingly reading my mind. "Sometimes, you're gonna have to be careful, instead of charging in like a blind bull."

Was it just me, or had the verbal tics of hers decreased in number?

"Okay, fine, but fighting with one arm isn't technically being careful," I retorted.

"Yeah, but I'm faster than you," she said, before dashing ahead once more. The Ape jumped over her, and this time, Argo shot her arm out upwards.

Ouch. The Copse Ape also vanished. Oh, and I think it went without saying that both of her attacks were Critical.

"… You, just how much did you train your LUK stat?" I asked.

"Higher than others, although if you hit the right spot, you can get a critical easily-ya."

"And just how do you know where this right spot is?"

"No idea!"

I was right. She was being a bit different from usual. I didn't know that this part-crazy mischievous personality was what she showed to anyone she thought of as her friend.

"Anyway, shouldn't we get going? That NPC did say to follow the river once you got to it."

"And you ended up following his advice very literally," I joked.

"You followed too," she shot back.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get going already."

*~B~*

Truth be told, Argo was at the moment acting more cheerful than she actually was. She didn't want to admit it, but she was finally seeing _"that pervert" _as a good friend. And that was exactly why she didn't want to show him that she was in actuality thinking about something much more grim.

He did, however, have this ability to cheer her up without even knowing that he was doing so. And as such, Argo found it easier to go through her memories, not being sobered so easily.

_**~Flashback Continued~**_

"_Oh? Nakamura-san, this is quite the surprise."_

"_Yeah, well, I'm not here to visit, Akayama. I was wondering if you had an empty spot in this little refuge of yours."_

_The woman looked momentarily confused, before looking down and noticing the girl he had his grip on. "Ah, so you found the troublemaker," she said, a stern look passing across her face._

"_You know her?"_

"_Of course. This girl here has been the biggest nuisance of my life, causing ruckus after ruckus. I was half-happy when she disappeared a month ago."_

"_Well, she's been on the streets this whole time, stealing things from hard workers like me."_

"_Is that so? Well, I'll have to teach her a lesson or two, won't I?"_

_The man let go of the girl's shoulder. She immediately tried to run, but he had expected that, his vise-like grip catching her almost immediately. "Hey, hey, be nice. Akayama here spends all her effort taking care of kids like you, and this is how you repay her?"_

'_You don't get it. You just don't get it.'_

_The girl stared back defiantly at her captor, who looked away after a second. "I don't know how you handle her, with that freakish stare of hers."_

"_I have my ways," the woman said, before taking a hold of the girl. The girl struggled for a second, but the woman's grip tightened painfully, and she finally gave up, letting the woman drag her inside and close the door. For a few seconds nobody did or said anything, the woman seemingly waiting for something. Then a hand came down like lightning and slapped the girl hard._

_The girl cried and staggered back. She looked back at the woman, her cold yet polite mask gone, and replaced with conceited indignance. "You little bitch," she said, "After all the hard work I do for all of you, this is how you repay me?"_

_The girl knew better than to reply, but that only enraged the woman further. "None of the other children here, _none of them, _cause me any of the trouble that you do. Every week, you break something, or you get into a fight, or you throw food all over the place, it's always something or another! You're lucky that a place like mine will take in runts like you!"_

_Against her better judgment, the girl retorted, "There's better places than yours."_

_The woman's face contorted. Another whip-like slap left a dark red mark on the girl's cheek. "You dare speak back to me?!" she shrieked. The girl curled up at a corner of the hallway. She saw curious faces peep out from the other end of the hallway. Many of them were indifferent, some enjoying the show in front of them, and others, who deeply loathed the way she supposedly 'looked at them weirdly' showed clear satisfaction on their faces. And then there were _those two faces.

_The woman took a deep breath. "It's because of kids like you that I sometimes consider closing this place down."_

"_Oh, don't do that, Akayama-san!" one of those two said. "We love this place of yours, and we don't have that many other places to go to! Please don't close it down because of troublemakers like her!"_

"… _You know what, you're right, Saki. You see, Arisa? If you were just a bit more like Saki and Ami there, you wouldn't have to go through that," the woman said overly kindly. "Speaking of which, Saki, Ami! Why don't you two take care of her, see that she doesn't go wrong?"_

"_You're trusting us to take care of her?" the other one asked._

"_Of course. Out of all the kids here, I like you two the most. Now go on, Arisa, get the hell out of my sight."_

_The girl didn't have a choice, so she slowly made her way towards the two people who were the reason she ran off in the first place, and the reason she was labeled a "troublemaker", although that was putting it lightly._

_The other kids had all left for their own respective rooms, while the girl followed them, hearing the two of them not even bothering to hide their snickering._

_Once they got to their room – which would now also be her room – the older one, Saki, closed the door. Ami, one year younger than Saki and four years older than the girl, turned to the girl, no longer wearing the innocent expression she showed the orphanage's owner. "Welcome back, freak."_

_**~Present~**_

Argo stopped herself at that point. _That's enough digging through bad memories for one day._

Somebody else would have wondered why pleasant thoughts would lead to sinking back into not-so-pleasant thoughts, but it was just a matter of comparison.

Argo at first didn't understand why she sometimes made herself go through bad memories, until she realized that she thought that going through them repeatedly would somehow make her more resilient. She believed that the more she subjected herself to the mental torment of her memories, the stronger she would get and the more enduring she would be once (_if, _her pessimistic side said) she got back.

Or maybe she just liked to torture herself. Argo really didn't know. What she did know, however, was that that was a side of her that she would _never _show anyone else, especially people who knew her.

"Hey," Ise spoke up, jolting her out of her thoughts, "this is the place, right?"

Argo finally looked at her surroundings, and noticed that they were in the middle of what probably used to be a small village. What was left now was burnt straw here and there, along with charred wooden structures.

A cry sounded from ahead. "Help!" a child's voice cried.

"That's our cue, I guess," Argo muttered, before running forward, Ise following close behind.

Reaching the source of the cry, they found five Snakemen circling an NPC family. Argo had to remind herself that they were NPCs, not real people; that was how realistic the fear and despair they showed on their faces were.

Four of the Snakemen wore heavy armor, and carried a torch in their left hand, while holding a short spear in their right. Right in front of that family, surrounded by the burning wood, bamboo and straw houses, was a Snakemen wearing a rough crown. It was a lot more draconic in appearance, with a much more sinister head replacing the usual skinny, snake's head. It wore thick armor with fur linings, and had a claymore on its back, and two daggers at its sides.

The names Snakeman Firestarter and Snakeman King appeared in Argo's vision. However, that was not what she was paying attention to.

Seeing the King standing over the NPC family on their knees, the two children crying, struck her with a sense of familiarity.

"_Give it back!" a girl cried._

"_Now, now, stop screaming. You're ruining my hearing. And hey, what's this? When did you buy yourself a gaming console?"_

"_That's none of your business! Now give it back!"_

"_Now that I think about it, maybe you stole it," the condescending voice continued. "Did you perhaps stare at the owner of some store with that freakish stare of yours before he handed it over? My, Arisa-chan, that's quite a crime."_

_The girl screamed once again and tried to get it back, only to get kicked back mercilessly._

"_Shut up! God, you're going to make me deaf. Since you didn't cooperate, I'll be confiscating this as well," a second voice said, taking the object out of the first assailant's hand._

"_Hey, I found it first!" the first girl complained._

"_You've kept the last five things we took out of her care. This one's mine."_

"_What's going on here?" a woman's voice shouted from outside the room._

"_Ah, sorry! Arisa-chan was throwing another tantrum because I wouldn't let her play with _my_ console!" the second person said in an innocent tone, while smirking victoriously at the younger girl._

"_Again?! Damn that brat, I can't even get a good sleep around here because of her!"_

_God, I'm hopeless, _Argo thought to herself, _finding something in common with something that's not even alive._

"I'll take the King, you get the other four," Argo said.

"What?! Are you crazy? That thing could possibly be leagues stronger than anything on this floor, not to mention whatever extreme stat it has!" Ise retorted.

Before Argo answered, the four Firestarters noticed the two of them and hissed. The King turned his attention away from the NPCs and towards Argo and Ise.

Just on time, the Body Part Loss icon at the corner of Argo's HP bar vanished and her right arm came back. Opening her menu, she unequipped and re-equipped her claws, retrieving the lost claw [1].

Perhaps she wanted to vent the anger she had gathered over the years towards her two roommates at the Snakeman King, or perhaps she was standing up for the NPC children that reminded her of herself. Either way, Argo found herself thinking highly illogically.

_It would be so much easier if the two of us avoided the King and took turns whittling away at the FIrestarters, and then attacking the King together. That would make so much more sense than what I'm about to do._

"You got what I said, right?" Argo asked Ise.

"That doesn't mean I'm gonna agre–"

She didn't wait for a response as she zoomed right past the approaching Firestarters, dodging under their torches, and directly attacking the King. The faint headache returned.

_Stomach area of armor._

Argo stabbed her right claw towards the stomach – only to be blocked by the claymore. The jolt travelled throughout her body, and with a sharp swing, it knocked her back.

The King made a raspy hissing noise before positioning the claymore forward and taking a stance. Argo prepared herself to attack as well when Ise also moved back from the FIrestarters.

"What the hell?" he muttered, taking out a mid-level potion and drinking it.

"What is it?"

"Those torches, they're like … well, they're like your attacks. Rarely _not _a critical. Luckily the attack power doesn't seem that high."

"Guess we've found the extreme then-nya," Argo said.

"Yeah, but now what?" Ise asked, eyeing the five Snakemen warily.

"Same as before. You get the other four while I deal with the–"

"Yeah, like hell," Ise muttered, before charging right past the Firestarters and smashing into the guarding claymore with Beast Slayer. The impact of the blow pushed the King far back, and Ise was then frozen.

Argo was left to deal with the four Firestarters that were about to attack Ise.

_Back of the neck._

She waited until the exact moment when all of them turned towards him, and then dashed forward, digging into two of their necks immediately. Ripping past them, she slashed her claws inward, cutting through the torches. She turned around just in time to parry the descending spears. It still took away some of her HP, however. The other two Snakemen shattered, CRITICAL floating above them.

Around that time, Ise was able to move again, and the King had charged at him, bringing the claymore down for an overhead slash. It wasn't an attack he could defend against.

Argo kept her arms steady, fighting the push of the spears, and then moved them towards each other. The spears slid off them, the blades grazing her shoulders in the process. Immediately she pulled her arms back and the claws began to glow orange. Double Stab activated as she thrust the claws out directly forwards into their stomachs.

However, it wasn't a critical hit, nor was it enough to kill it. "What the?!" she exclaimed, unable to move.

A resounding clang echoed from behind her, followed by a loud crack. The skill delay passed just in time for Argo to leap away from the spears that were about to skewer her. She looked back to see Ise having defended against the claymore with Relief Strike. However, a quick glance at the corner of her vision told her that he had suffered quite a lot of damage from the attack.

"Switch! Now!" she shouted, running forward. Ise complied, moving back and past her.

Argo glanced at the claymore the King held. A crack had appeared near the base of the blade.

_Weapon breaks with enough force at the base._

_Perfect, _she thought. _If I can deal with that, then there might be an actual chance to damage the thing._

The King brought the sword over its head for another attack. Argo moved her left leg back and folded her right arm back, getting into a stance. The claws began to give off blood-red light.

The sword swung down, and Argo attacked with a yell. Prey Killer, the strongest skill she had in her arsenal. She attacked with her right in a way similar to a right hook, the claw smashing into the side of the claymore, followed by a direct, rapid thrust with her left claw at the same spot. The combined blows broke the blade with an extremely loud clang, just as at the edge of her hearing she heard the sounds of two more monsters being killed.

What happened next was beyond her expectations. Argo had thought that losing the claymore would at least stop the King for a second or two, but almost immediately it drew the daggers at its sides, raised its arms and stabbed downwards in a cross shape. Red damage lines drew a large cross from her shoulders to her knees as a small CRIT flashed for a moment beside her HP bar, which had plummeted to red. Argo stumbled back, her left hand already opening the menu.

A yellow X-shaped attack struck from above her, finally landing a strike on the approaching King. "You alright" Ise asked, stepping into position beside her.

"Yeah. Be careful, this guy's daggers can also give easy Criticals. Judging by how much damage I got, you're not gonna survive it."

"Doesn't that mean I just have to kill him before he manages to hit me?"

For a moment, Argo was stumped. "Don't say that kinda stuff unless you can back it up. Your strongest Combat Blade skill is for attacking multiple enemies, isn't it?" she said, wondering at his straightforward approach to any and all problems.

"Yeah, but who said I'm gonna use Combat Blade?" Ise grinned, before unequipping it.

Before Argo could respond, he charged. "Hey, wait!" she said, too late.

Argo noticed his limbs glowing vivid crimson, and felt a sense of déjà vu.

Ise's left fist nailed the King in the face from the right, followed up by a direct punch with his right fist. Still in motion, he turned and landed a spinning kick on the King's neck with his left leg. Stomping that leg onto the ground after that, he swung his right leg vertically up, kicking it square below its jaw, and then, with a booming sound effect, slammed his foot into the monster's chest, knocking it back and down onto the ground. Ise's immense ATT stat meant that the King had lost all of its HP from that attack, and it shattered.

For a second there was no sound except the crackling of still burning houses. Then a cheering came from the NPC family, who had joy clearly written across their faces.

The father of that family walked up to Ise. "Warrior, I thank you for saving our village from the vile Snakemen."

"I helped too, ya know," Argo grumbled under her breath.

"As a token of gratitude, please accept this reward," the NPC finished. A window opened in front of Ise, who clicked YES. Quest Complete! appeared in Argo's vision, and suddenly, like magic, their surroundings changed. Gone were the burning and dilapidated houses, replaced by a small yet populous village.

"After all of that, he couldn't be bothered to make this part realistic," Ise said.

"Well, it is still a game," Argo replied. "So, what did you get?"

Ise looked at her for a second, before saying "1000 Col."

Argo was confused. "Huh? Wasn't it supposed to be an upgrade and not a – oh. Oh," she realized, looking at his growing smirk, and feeling herself smile. "Stealing my line, are ya?"

"Nah, not really," he replied, offering her a hand.

"I can get up myself, you know," Argo said, but took the hand nonetheless. Opening her menu once she got up, she used another potion to bring her HP back to green. "Phew, I'm gonna have to buy a whole lot of potions after today."

"Oh come on, I didn't use that many."

"Uh-huh. It was just about a dozen, not too much," Argo said sarcastically.

"Tell you what," Ise said, opening his menu. "I'll give you mine. The only reason you lost yours is because I didn't have the time to open my window."

A trade window appeared in front of Argo. She counted the number of potions, and then crossed out three before clicking yes. "You offered too many," she said.

"You could've still taken them anyway."

"Call it fair trade. Anyway, what _did _you get?"

Ise looked through his inventory before finding the new item and equipping it. The blade on his left hand disappeared and was replaced by a rougher, yet more polished and stronger-looking blade. "An increase in the weapon's sharpness, and a boost to my LUK stat," he said, reading the item description.

"That explains their ability of making critical hits. That also explains why my attacks on the last two Firestarters weren't critical, and why it did so little damage. Their high LUK stat made the random number variable in the calculation prone to be lower, resulting in less damage," Argo said.

"… Not that I understood most of that, but, really? You even looked up how the game calculates damage?" Ise asked incredulously.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Who wants to know that?"

Argo was about to answer, then she wasn't able to. "You might have a point – oh, wait, Kii-bou might be interested!"

"Forcing yourself to find people is not gonna work. I don't think even Kirito would want to know that."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, we're done here, so I'm gonna head back first," Argo stated.

"Not so fast. You're forgetting something."

"What?"

"Genryuu's invitation, of course."

*~B~*

"How did that genius manage to simulate something like this?" I exclaimed, while digging into something that was, well, delicious.

"I brought you guys to the best place on this floor, so you better enjoy yourself. Man, I'm gonna have to monster hunt for three days to get back the money I used up here," Genryuu said, more to himself than others.

"Geez, Gen, don't complain every other second," Rurin said exasperatedly. "You're going to make them lose their appetite out of guilt."

"It's not even a real appetite, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Gen-kun, I think you need to learn to be a better host," Argo commented.

The four of us were eating in a sort of restaurant on the fifth floor, which happened to be a very large bamboo shack. And the food was delicious. Am I repeating myself? Well, it really was delicious.

"By the way, Argo-san, do you know where I can get some better equipment for myself?" Genryuu asked.

"Better equipment?"

"Yeah, well, I used up pretty much all my throwing picks against those Copse Wolves, so I was wondering where I could get some that are even better quality."

"Hmm … 750 Col."

"Huh?"

"And that's just for the information-nya. The item costs are much higher than that."

"I just told you I'm running short on money!"

Rurin laughed. "Say, Argo-san, how much would it be for actually showing him the place and helping him buy the items?"

This time, Argo was surprised. As for me, well, I was still eating while watching the discussion.

"Knowing Gen, he might get lost, accidentally end up in the Outer Area and get killed by baby lions."

I choked on my food as Genryuu let out an indignant "Hey!" and even Argo snorted at that. "Well … alright, since I like you, Rurin, I'll just ask for a favor in return later in the future."

"It's a done deal," Rurin said, smiling.

"Ruruko, I can take care of myself!"

"I know, I'm just making sure is all."

Genryuu looked down, defeated. "So," I finally said, "Are you guys gonna eat more or am I gonna take everything?"

*~B~*

Five minutes later, after Genryuu's multiple and failed protests, he left with Argo for the seventh floor, which apparently had some shops that sold very high-quality ranged weapons, so he could even find a substitute for his whip if necessary.

Just for being around and hearing that info I had to pay Argo 750 Col. She told me to stay with Rurin until Genryuu got back. She didn't particularly mention if she was gonna be back though.

So as it turned out in the end, Rurin and I were sitting in the inn room that she and Genryuu had rented. And damn, it was awkward. I couldn't think of anything to say at all, and she was just sitting on the bed thinking about something. I'd bet half my money that she was worrying about Genryuu, though.

"Ise-san, you're pretty strong, aren't you?" she said suddenly.

"Huh? Why're you asking that all of a sudden?"

"I was just thinking that it's a good thing strong and good people like you exist."

… Guess it was a good thing I didn't state my bet out loud.

"Well, I'm not exactly as strong as you think I am," I said, leaning back a bit onto the chair I was sitting on.

"Of course you are. You and Argo-san alone went and defeated more than a dozen monsters that had Gen trapped in the Outer Area. To be honest, I envy you two," she said, looking straight at me and smiling a bit sadly.

"You're looking at the idiot who trained his attack stat and attack stat alone. If it wasn't for Argo, I'd have died a few times over in the last couple of battles. There's nothing to be envious about."

"There is. The two of you are able to walk into the Outer Area so fearlessly. Especially you, stepping up to help me when I wasn't thinking straight and those men were … No, Ise-san, you really are brave."

It was embarrassing, the number of compliments she was giving me. But there was something that I had to set straight. "… I'm not exactly as fearless as you make me out to be," I said.

Rurin looked confused at that. "What do you mean?"

"Just because I walk into dangerous situations, doesn't mean that I don't feel scared. Yeah, I do feel scared. I'm scared of dying all the time. And I'm not strong either; I'm just high-leveled enough for the fifth floor to be easy."

"Impossible," she said, a flicker of anger in her eyes. "If you were scared of dying, you wouldn't be out in the fields! You wouldn't be fighting monster swarms like you've done so far!"

"Why do you think I'm still on the fifth floor?" I asked. "Why do you think I haven't tried going to, say the seventh or eighth floors?"

"That's still impossible!" she said loudly. If it was a real world inn, people in the other rooms would have heard her. "If you really were scared, then how are you still able to fight? How are you not hiding constantly in the Inner Area unless you have someone you can rely on to help you outside?! How are you not like–"

Rurin stopped herself at that point. "I'm sorry," she said, covering her face. "Suddenly shouting like that, I shouldn't have done that."

By then, I'd realized what she was saying, and why she was saying it. "… You're afraid of dying, aren't you?" I said softly.

Rurin didn't say anything, only nodding slowly in response.

"And you want to know why I'm saying I'm afraid of dying too, yet still can go out into the field, right?"

"… When Gen's not here, I can't even take a step outside the city boundaries. Without him there beside me, I'm too scared to do anything outside the Area. Today, when I was running back here after Gen got trapped, I almost lost control. If it wasn't for the idea of Gen fighting to get out of there, I might have even holed myself up in this inn for the rest of the game."

I sighed. I decided to tell her something that I hadn't even told Argo, and didn't plan on telling anybody else. "Back when the second floor was first opened, I nearly got killed by a monster swarm," I said. She removed her hands from her face and looked at me. "And when I say nearly, I mean I literally had only 1HP left. If it wasn't for the other person I was with at the time, I'd have never made it out of there alive."

"… What happened afterwards?" she asked.

"That incident hit me pretty hard. I became completely terrified of dying; so terrified I didn't want to take a chance any more. I ran to the nearest safe area and didn't budge a step from there for many, many days."

"Then how are you here now? What's your secret?"

I smiled a bit at that. "There isn't really a secret. I met someone who explained to me just what I should be doing. If not for myself, I should be doing my best to get out of this game for my family and friends, and for my goal in life."

"Your goal?"

Yeah, like hell I was gonna tell her that. She wouldn't listen to anything else I said then.

"That doesn't matter. The point is, even after all that, I was still in the same place, until Argo came and then, because of me, got into a near-death situation. That was when I made a promise to the person."

Rurin didn't ask anything, giving me just a questioning look.

"I made a promise not to help myself, but to help everyone else. To help all the people trapped in the game. But what I really thought was: 'I don't want anyone else to feel what I felt that day.' That day I almost died, I didn't want anybody to have to go through that kind of experience. That's why I found the strength to help Argo out of that mess she had gotten in. And when I was about to die again in that situation, I almost lost it again. But seeing her get up, barely alive herself, trying to help _me _to survive, that got me up again."

At this point I found myself laughing at myself. "Even if I say that, I'm still walking through the floors with that fear in my mind. That's why I've only just managed to bring myself to this floor. I talk as if it's nothing, but it's not."

"But that's still a kind of strength, isn't it?" Rurin said. "Even that, I don't really have."

"You don't know what you want to do at all?" I asked.

"… Not really, no," she replied in a small voice.

Guess I had to voice my other suspicions to help get my point across.

"Rurin, you like Genryuu, right?"

I desperately needed a camera to record how she immediately blushed tomato-red. "Th-th-th-that – No! W-we're just childhood friends, th-there's nothing more to it!"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna tell him," I said. Hey, for once, my guesses turned out to be correct!

"… Y-yeah," she said, looking away.

"Then, tell me: you want him to survive this game, right? You don't want him to die, right?"

"Of course I want him to live!" she said. And this time she sounded certain about herself.

"Then what better way is there to ensure that he survives, other than you helping him do so, at his side?"

"But that's what I'm saying, I'm not strong enough for that!"

"Isn't keeping him alive with your own hands enough of a motivation?"

She finally realized what I was trying to say, and brightened up a bit. "Well … You're right, I guess. Still, I need to find some way to train myself, don't I?"

Now this, I was better that. It might not look like it, but it took a lot of effort to think of the right words to say to her.

"That's easier, isn't it? Just find a weapon you're comfortable with, and do what I did: start with the weakest monsters of the first floor, and slowly work your way up."

"… A weapon I'm comfortable with…?" she said quietly.

"Something wrong?"

She didn't answer. "Hey, Rurin, what's the matter?"

"… There isn't a weapon I'm comfortable with," she grumbled.

I didn't answer. She stared at me defiantly. "Go ahead, laugh," she said, almost pouting.

I did. I burst out laughing, because, well, it was too much of a coincidence.

"You don't have to make fun of me, you know," she muttered.

"I'm not," I said, still chuckling a bit, "I'm just amazed at how similar we are."

"… What?"

"I'm the same. I never found a weapon I was comfortable with, so I wanted to resort to just my hands and feet. Luckily for me, a skill like that exists."

Rurin's eyes widened. "Really? Where?" she said excitedly.

"Calm down," I said. "It's called Martial Arts, and it's on the second floor, near the edges – hang on, let me check something."

I opened my menu and went to the map, opening it to public view. The fifth floor's map appeared. "Ah, dammit. How do I open that floor's map?"

I then recalled the person I had recently added to my friend list. Closing the map, I told Rurin "Please wait a minute," and opening the message option, I began to type a message to Argo.

[Sorry to bother you, but is it possible to open a map of one floor while you're on another?]

After a while, a reply came.

[There's an option labeled Map Directory at the bottom left corner of the map. You can use that to look at the maps of the previous floors. Why though?]

[Just showing someone where the Martial Arts NPC is.]

The reply came even faster this time. [Whoever you're showing it to – wait, is it Rurin? – You probably don't remember the safe path, so tell her this: the seventh floor shop stocks something called Monster Repellant. It only works for monsters on the first seven floors, but it should be useful enough, even if a) it's expensive and b) it stinks]

I smirked at that. [I'll tell her that. Don't tell Genryuu about this yet.] Typing that far, I looked at Rurin, who was reading my replies. "You should tell him yourself. I have a feeling he'll worry as much as you do for him if he hears this from anyone else."

Rurin smiled and said, "Thank you."

Sending the message, I did as Argo said and showed her where the NPC was, taking care to mention the Monster Repellant and the face paint. I'd never forget the face paint.

"Well, that's that, then. You know what you have to do now, right?" I asked.

"… Yeah. Thanks again, Ise-san."

"Well," I said, getting up, "wouldn't want to impose on you further. Genryuu should be done and on his way by now, so I should get going."

"You and Argo are welcome to stop by when you like," Rurin said.

"Thanks, but I don't think you'll be staying in one place for too long, now that you've got an objective. See you around then."

With that, I left the inn, and headed towards the teleportation gate. Normally I would have stayed here on this floor a bit longer, taken it easy. However …

I looked down at my left arm, where I normally equipped Combat Blade. That thing would probably cause more people to be in danger the further I went up. Also, speaking out my motivations to Rurin probably made me realize it as well.

It was time for me to shorten my floor-by-floor trips. Time for me to challenge the sixth floor.

… Though I say that, I'll probably spend longer than usual on that floor in the end.

***~B~***

**I have three things to say about this chapter.**

**BAM, Mood Whiplash! I promised an optimistic chapter, right? Yeah, well, then the backstory began.**

**This chapter was … haphazard. And rushed. It felt very rushed. I could have easily left Argo's backstory for later, instead of starting it off on this chapter, but otherwise, this chapter would have lost a lot of substance, and Argo would not have been as interesting. That is, if I wrote it right. Have I done it right? Were the flashbacks overdone? I'll admit right now, I have zero knowledge of Japan's modern day cities, and neither do I have anything against orphanages. It was simply a device, and it does not reflect anything in reality.**

**And something got retconned. As stated in an AN somewhat through the story, I mentioned waterfall back on chapter, uh…. Nine. Floor 11 Part 6. Yeah. That may have been a stupid idea, and I'd forgotten that I'd said waterfall until I was ending this chapter, so … I'm gonna go back and change that bit. A thousand apologies.**

**I know that this chapter raises a LOT of questions about Argo. How long was she there? How did she ever pick up gaming in that situation? How did she manage to get and use a NerveGear? Who even noticed enough to call up an ambulance when November 6 happened?**

**Yeah. All the questions aren't exactly gonna be answered straight away. Not much else to say, is there?**

**Next chapter is gonna shift back to Kirito. And … it's not exactly a happy chapter. Ask yourself: what key and defining event happened to him halfway through 2023?**

**Yup. That.**

**And that's enough of babbling. Time to end this chapter – which was the longest one I've written yet. I'm only a few words away from 10k. That's unimportant and anyway, Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**


	17. Chapter Fourteen: Faded Moon

**Looks like I'm starting this chapter relatively earlier than usual. Huh. Wonder if I'm also gonna update it earlier than usual as well.**

**I'm guessing this chapter will also be shorter than usual. Eh, we'll see about that. After the longest chapter yet, it kinda fits that this one would be short. But first, review replies:**

**reality deviant: Yeah, you guessed right. Intuition whispers, eh? That … is actually a very good name for it. I won't say any more on the subject of Argo's specialty else I give away too much. Saying just that may have given away too much.**

**Vld: There will be more Dragon and Rat chapters. Like I said, I'm gonna go chronologically from here on out. Well, maybe barring one or two chapters if it turns out like that. I have plans for eight Dragon and rat chapters, which means there're four left, and then there's Floor 52. About your guess … should I answer it? All I'll say is, I live outside the box and I live inside a grim mind. The less optimistically you think, the more you'll be able to guess where I'm going.**

**Lone Gundam: Actually, this is before Ddraig's dragon luck started working at all (Boosted Gear hasn't activated yet) so basically Argo happens before the dragon starts dealing his hand in Ise's business.**

**Greatazuredragon: The hard part about writing anything is writing a non-Sue. Writing Sues are so fricking easy that every time I write something I gain new respect for authors who can write well-rounded characters. And unique view is putting it lightly… Unlimited Dress Break comes to my mind when you mention Reality Marble. Or something M-rated even.**

**Zyber Elthone: If I recall, Boosted Gear's base form is always a gauntlet of sorts (which people can mistake for Twice Critical), although the true form that he activated against Raynare, that may change. Oh, and I take your 50Col bet and square it. And you're right, Raiser ain't having it easy.**

**And I seriously should stop forgetting to put in footnotes when I leave a marker. Yeah. Remember how Argo re-equipped her lost claw after it had basically been, well, lost in the river? I'm not entirely sure what the explanation was, but there is one in the SAO Progressive Manga.**

**And here we have a new and depressing chapter! Onward, ho!**

**Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own SAO or DxD any more than … than the hobo across the street.**

***~B~***

**Chapter Fourteen: Faded Moon**

**[Aincrad 11****th**** floor, Taft. June 2023]**

In all respects and every respect, Parker was just an ordinary low-level player. A completely ordinary player of the eleventh floor who rarely went out to the dungeons.

Most of the time, Parker spent the day at a small inn near the edge of the Inner Area, looking out at the endless sky that was the region around Aincrad. The same sight, day in day out, was what greeted him each and every time.

Today, however, Parker was surprised at the change in the scenery. Although calling that a part of the scenery may have been rude.

A player dressed in black was sitting against the boundary wall, right arm resting on one knee, his long bangs covering his face. Parker did not know the player, neither did he understand what he was doing.

From the player's equipment, it was obvious even to Parker that he was certainly a high-level player. He had only a sword on his back, but no shield.

_A sword but no shield … and the black clothing too…_

Finally Parker recognized the player as the infamous Beater of Aincrad. Of all the beta testers in the game, a certain black-garbed individual who only wielded a single one-handed longsword had become the most hated of them all.

Parker did not share that pointless hatred. Truth be told, he really didn't give a damn. He also believed clearing the game was a lost cause, so he spent his day either lazily or enjoying himself with whatever the virtual world had to offer. He did know, however, how set the front-line clearers were on beating the game. It didn't matter to him, but currently, he was looking at a contradiction.

What was a front-line player, especially one who was among the strongest of them, doing sitting down here on the eleventh floor?

Parker considered the possibility for a second, that the Beater was no different from other beta testers, and only pretended so to move all the hatred onto himself. He wondered if all of that was getting to him and thus the Beater was now spending some time to himself down here, away from other clearers.

Again, he didn't much care, but, looking around and noticing no one else but himself, the Beater and a few NPCs, Parker decided to give him as much space as needed, and left to find other means of passing his time.

*~B~*

Two hours later, upon returning, Parker found the Beater still in the same position. He hadn't moved an inch.

Parker considered that he might possibly be sleeping in that position. But if he wanted to sleep, there were many inns available, so it wasn't possible to understand why he might be sleeping in the middle of the town. _Well, to each his own eccentricity, I guess._

He ordered a drink from the NPC and sat back at his usual seat. After a while, he got up and sat somewhere farther left, so as to not be directly facing the black-clothed player.

It was one of Parker's favorite pastimes in the game, to watch the sunset from the eleventh floor. Even in real life, he was guilty of plenty of sloth, and that hadn't changed in the virtual world. He would maybe hunt in an area closest to the town for half an hour or so in the morning (he had found a weak monster that gave plenty of money as reward, so with a few of those, he could spend the rest of the day in leisure, indulging in whatever activity he liked.

This time, however, he was constantly disturbed. It wasn't any movement or sound. Rather, it was the lack of such. Continuously he glanced at the Beater, who remained still as a statue, and found himself wondering what the hell the player was doing. It was only human nature to be curious. Parker wondered if he should go up to him and try to start up a conversation for the heck of it.

Finally, there was a slight movement. The Beater lifted his head slightly, and glanced at the corner of his vision. Parker recognized the motions as someone who had just received a message. However, he made no motion to open or read the message, moving his head back into the previous position.

Parker wondered why, for a second, he had felt a small chill when the player had looked up. He kept his gaze fixed on the setting sun in the sky afterwards, and tried to wonder why, after merely descending beyond the floor level of the eleventh floor, the sun appeared to vanish and the sky darkened. He tried to think about how lazy Kayaba Akihiko was sometimes, as compared to how detailed other things could be.

He instead found himself comparing the empty eyes that has glanced in his direction, yet not seeing him, wondering why they resembled black holes – devoid of any light at all.

*~B~*

Night had fallen, and the inn's open front was now bustling with many players. Drinks were passed, conversations took place, and overall there was a modicum of enjoyment. Parker, as was his nature, watched the other players like an audience at a show, silently smirking at some of the idiocies that took place.

"Yo," a player said, dragging up a chair to sit beside Parker. Grande, a player with a pretentious name and a frail build, and one of the few people Parker talked to, sat down and set his glass on the table loudly.

"Today go the same as usual, I guess?" he asked.

"Pretty much. I did get a lot of money this morning, more so than usual, so I have quite a bit left over."

"Oh? You might want to check just how much you do have quickly. With enough, you might even be able to pay Sukiya-chan a visit."

Parker chuckled at that. "It surprises me that even here on Aincrad, people remain people. Some try to escape, others like me just while away their time, and some even use the opportunity to say 'Screw you' to age barriers, doing whatever the hell they like in here."

"There really aren't that many of the third type, you know."

"Count how many people visit that Sukiya, and you'll find out."

"Ah, whatever," Grande said, leaning back. "Say, does something feel different to you today?"

"Like what?"

"Well, everyone's messing around as they like, but it sort of feels like there's something else in the atmosphere. I don't know how else to phrase it, really …"

Parker glanced in a certain direction. "… I think I know what you're talking about," he said. Grande followed his gaze, and found the source.

On one side of the inn, lights were lit and an overall sense of pointless merriment was in the air. The border wall was also lined at intervals with lamp-posts, so every dozen feet or so, there was a region of light. Between those regions were shadowy areas, one of which seemed much darker than the rest.

A stark contrast to the light atmosphere of the players gathered at the inn, one player still sat by the wall, in the same position as last Parker saw him. Like dark matter, none of the light around seemed to reach the black-clothed Beater as he remained there, oblivious to his surroundings.

Of course, all the other players had noticed him, but decided to ignore him. The few that recognized and despised him due to his status, made loud and rude comments in his direction at first, but after his lack of response, they elected to ignore him as well.

" … On a different topic, there's a rumor that's been going around since this afternoon," Grande said, eager to change the topic.

"Rumor?"

"Yeah. Apparently this small-time guild from around this floor vanished yesterday."

"Vanished?"

"Like all of the members are suddenly nowhere to be found. Course, I don't think any of the higher floors even knew of their existence to begin with."

"What guild was it?"

"Not that you'd know the name, but I think it was called Cats of the Moon or something."

Parker sighed. "Guess they went and got themselves killed, that's all there is to it. Not exactly remarkable news, since all of us are gonna flicker out someday."

*~B~*

Midnight had passed. It was probably around 1am, but it didn't really matter to me.

I'd tried. I'd tried as much as I could to stop thinking about it. I went down to a dungeon and tried to immerse myself in fighting. But I couldn't focus. After using up a few potions and barely landing a hit, I was forced to go back. A part of me even said, _Just let yourself die here. That'll be it._

I was too cowardly to do even that. I didn't find any sleep that night, and the next day I still couldn't make myself do anything. In the end, I arrived back where Keita had taken his last breath. I ended up sitting against the wall at the very spot where he had jumped off, thinking I could hear him behind me, cursing me under his breath.

It was my fault. There were no two ways around it, it was unequivocally my fault. My fault that they all had died. Ducker, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Keita … Sachi. All of their deaths, they were all because of me.

If I had told them my real level, if I had told them of my status as a beta tester, they would have listened. Ducker wouldn't have opened that treasure chest, the trap wouldn't have activated, and we would have made it out alive. No, if I had told them that all the way from the start, they wouldn't have let the 'dirty Beater' into their guild. Had that happened, maybe they would still live to see today.

That family-like atmosphere around them, the one I wanted to be a part of, that was the reason. I should have just stayed clear of them. I could have left them at that inn, and they could have still stayed alive and safe on the lower floors. My arrogance, my overconfidence, my belief that they would have been fine even on the higher floors because I was with them, all of that was at fault.

I didn't deserve to be in any guild. After all, I was a Beater. Guilds and parties were never for me. I was always supposed to go about my way alone. In the end, that's all I was good for.

"There you are!" someone said. I knew that voice. I lifted my head slightly, and found Asuna standing there.

"Where have you been? I've had Klein send you over a dozen messages, and you haven't answered a single one!"

I didn't answer her. I remained silent, wishing that the vice-commander of KoB would leave me alone.

"Hey, what's gotten into you? Kiba-kun and I have been searching just about every floor above here for you. We've found the thirty-first floor's boss room, and we're going to be raiding it soon. Since you've been absent from the last couple of floors, I decided to find you myself."

"… You can get that boss without me," I said, forcing my voice not to crack.

Asuna stayed quiet for a while, no doubt questioning my lack of motivation. "Kirito-kun," she said, "are you alright?"

"… I'm fine," I lied, getting up, not looking at her.

"Well, I can only excuse an absence twice, Kirito-kun," she continued, trying to be cheerful, "so come on, the thirty-first floor boss is waiting. It really isn't an ordinary boss battle without the insufferably strong 'Beater' taking the lead."

I probably froze at those last words. I wanted to be angry, to be able to hate the name I had chosen for myself. I wanted to be angry at Asuna for reminding me of it, and therefore of them. I hated myself. Asuna was right. The Beater's place was at the front lines. The Beater's place was being an arrogant, aloof bastard, the delinquent of the clearers. The Beater's place was being the solo, non-partied fighter, looking only for his own selfish wants. After all, that was all a Beater was good for.

"… Yeah, you're right," I said, turning around and walking past her, still not looking at her. "I'll be there. That is my job, after all."

With those words, I walked away from Asuna, and once I was out of sight, I ran. I hadn't asked when or where the raid group would be congregating. I partly didn't care. All I knew was, I couldn't let myself mingle with anyone. I ran to the teleport gate of Taft, and went straight to the twenty-eighth floor. To be the Beater, I needed to be stronger than anyone else. To be the Beater, I needed to be by myself wherever I went.

That may have been the day when being the Beater stopped being an act.

*~B~*

Asuna stared at Kirito's back as he walked away. She saw him turn a corner, and then heard hard, fading footsteps.

She didn't know what he was running from. She had no idea why he was running. But when he had walked past her, when she saw his eyes and his expression, she had felt a small chill. It had been extremely hard, looking at those cold, emotionless eyes. And though not many others would have seen through it, Asuna did. She saw through the forced calm mask he had put on.

Something had shaken him to the core, something that wouldn't allow being asked about. Whatever it was, Asuna could do nothing to help. She wondered just how long he had been sitting there before she had found him.

"Kirito-kun…"

However, she couldn't afford to be worried about him, not now. She was the vice-commander of the largest clearing guild on the front lines, and the strategist and leader for every battle since the twenty-fifth floor. No matter how concerned she was for him, she needed to remain the leader.

The raid was to be next morning. Asuna sent a message to Heathcliff, notifying him of where she would be staying the night, and sent another to Kiba and Klein, telling him that she had found Kirito. Asuna would need to rest before the next battle begun, or she would not be able to focus.

At the back of her mind, she wondered if Kirito even planned to rest, or if he simply planned to fight in the dungeons all the way till morning. Klein had told her that Kirito trained at night, and in his current state, she worried what he might do to himself. She was fairly sure he wouldn't die, but he might exhaust himself.

In the end, she decided to send both Kiba and Klein a message saying to look after Kirito, and pushing the worry out of her mind, she began searching for a suitable inn.

*~B~*

Heathcliff finished reading the message, and closing it, looked around once more. The large conference room of the house the Knights of the Blood had rented as their guild-house was empty. Of course, he had taken measures to know whether anyone was nearby, but it was more satisfying to check with one's own eyes.

Confirming his solitude, he opened another window, which showed a black-clothed swordsman battering away a large horde of monsters, face anguished. With every strike he seemed to hit harder and harder, focusing on naught but killing. Heathcliff, or rather Kayaba Akihiko, made a surprised sound under his breath.

"You never cease to surprise me, do you, Kirito-kun?" he muttered. "Not many people make me rethink my decisions twice over."

He opened another window, and tinkered in something. Clicking the confirmation button, he waited a second before a message box appeared.

REACTION TIME MEASUREMENT DATE SHIFTED TO NOVEMBER 6TH, 2023. DUAL BLADES SKILL GRANT DATE SHIFTED TO NOVEMBER 6TH, 2023.

"It seems the death of that guild served as a catalyst to force him to go beyond his limits," he muttered, the faintest smile on his lips. "At this rate, he will surpass the Gremory Knight's capability in no time at all."

Closing the window showing the black-garbed player rampaging through the monster horde, he opened three more. One showed a boy on the thirteenth floor fighting a bulky monster with what seemed were just his hands and feet. Another showed a cloaked girl sneaking her way around monsters on the thirtieth floor. The third showed a girl with pigtails unleashing skill after skill inside the Inner Area, hands and feet glowing different colors each time.

"Kirito the Beater, my vice-commander Asuna, the Gremory Knight Kiba Yuuto, Combat Blade wielder HK Ise, Fuurinkazan's leader Klein, Argo the Rat, players Genryuu and Rurin, blacksmith Lizbeth, so many unique elements are already large parts of this world. Who knows how many more there might be," Kayaba said to himself, closing the view windows, and opening a window showing many progress bars.

[ENERGY GATHERED FOR REALIZATION PROTOCOL: 64%]

[ENERGY GATHERED FOR RENEWAL PROTOCOL: 22%]

[BUILDING PROGRESS: 31%] [ACCELERATION OF BUILDING IN 29:22:46:54.56]

[OVERALL PROGRESS: 39%]

"Everything is going smoothly, it seems. None of the 99, or the 100th, are causing any problems."

If a person was in the room with Kayaba, he or she would be able to see the victorious, and slightly dreaming look in Kayaba's eyes.

"All dreams can become reality, Ajuka. My dream _can_ become a reality."

*~B~*

**Cryptic, cryptic. Such enigma. Much mystery. Wow.**

**I was looking through my previous chapters and…. *wince* so many inconsistencies. Fine, I may be exaggerating, but there were quite a few, the waterfall being the most striking example. I seriously need to be more careful.**

**As Kirito sinks into the void, something else is lit up partially. Kayaba had to once again move the Dual Blades Grant date, although the reason for that is basically me being a stickler for Canon. The timeline shows that he got the skill around October-November 2023, so I put it exactly a year since the First Day.**

**As for the implications from the conversation between two unimportant characters, yeah, they may be exactly what you think. I find it hard to believe that gamers and **_**only **_**gamers and people related to the gaming industry are the ones who got trapped in SAO. Of course, there are a few from the Devil side, but even on the human side, there are definitely people looking to exploit the game's capabilities for their own entertainment. Possibly, at the most, a few tens of people. And now that they're trapped, well, what to do but enjoy oneself? Aincrad was meant to be a literal virtual world, with all of the complications and complexities of the real world. Thus far, when it comes to civilization, it's done just that. Does anyone even read the ANs, by the way?**

**This chapter turned out to be shorter than the last few, and almost entirely SAO-centric. Ah well, it's another chapter and it took less time than before. I should seriously stop spending SO MUCH time on this; I shouldn't spend any more than the necessary amount. I think I'm falling behind on my other projects.**

**Well, another chapter done I guess. Punitor567 out. El Psy Congroo.**

**edit: it was supposed to be 2023, not 2024. Sorry.**


End file.
